Save Me
by Iwovepizza
Summary: Alongside an incredibly powerful adversary, Polybotes rises back from Tartarus and sets out to fulfill his promise to torture Percy under the sea, and on his birthday Percy is captured. The seven have to set out to save him, before he's shattered beyond repair. Will they get there in time? Or will this be Percy's last battle- The battle of sanity. Adopted from Christmascookie26
1. Chapter 1

The heat of August was beginning to gain momentum, and Percy awoke to a stifling hot cabin that might as well have been hovering over a pit of lava. His shirt was sticking to him uncomfortably, the sweat spots clear on the neckline and under his arms, and along with it came the feeling of being boiled alive in the stuffy air. Groaning softly, he kicked off the sheets (the comforter was already pooled at the foot of his bunk), and rolled out of bed. He stretched, sighing contentedly his back popped, and touched his toes before trudging off to start his morning routine, though he vaguely felt like he was forgetting something very important.

The first thing that he did was throw open the windows and let some (slightly) cooler air circulate through the room, and for a moment he just watched the ocean gently lap at the shore, the waves undulating and in no hurry to erode all the sand, despite the fact that the magics placed there would keep the water from advancing. There was little itch at the back of Percy's skull, a small voice that was nagging him and telling him that he seriously needed to remember something, and that was a feeling that he'd come to despise after his little run in with Hera. He was too lazy to actually walk over to his dresser and get clothes out of it, so he made a grab for the ones that were closest to him, which just so happened to be a pair of shorts and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt that passed the sniff test but only by a small fraction, and exchanged his ratty pair of boxers for them.

He brushed his teeth, shaved, and by the time he was done with all of that he had lost the will to brush his hair. Knowing that Annabeth would just fix it for him, he plodded out of the Poseidon cabin while still half-asleep. He always hated the scalding heat of August; July was fine, the water a little cold and the days a little hot but still bearable, but August was like Satan had risen from the depths of Hell itself and was now licking Percy's back seductively. It was not a pleasant feeling. Knowing it would only get worse as the day progressed, he decided that he needed to get through all his activities quickly so he could retreat to the coolness of his cabin, which hopefully would become air conditioned towards the afternoon (courtesy of some volunteer wind spirits that had come from Camp Jupiter).

It took him approximately five minutes to realize that there was absolutely nobody around, on top of the fact that no, it was not morning; by the position of the sun it looked closer to midday, and Percy started to panic. Usually, the camp would be all hustle and bustle at this hour, and someone would've undoubtedly woken him up if he'd slept in, but an eerie hush had blanketed the camp. Silence reigned, broken only by rocks crunching under Percy's shoes, the rustle of leaves in the trees as well as the chirping of the birds that lived in them, and the small pitter-patter of the fountains. There were no voices. No other footsteps besides his own. There wasn't even any form of racket coming from Cabin Nine or the Forge, and the children of Hephaestus were _always_ making a racket. That was what officially made alarm bells go off in his head, and he quickly uncapped Riptide, allowing the sword to spring to its full length as he suspected an attack on the camp. If that was so, however, then why hadn't he been woken up to the sounds of battle? There weren't even any scuff marks on the ground, and everything seemed to be perfectly intact. In fact, the bonfire wasn't even reflecting menacing colors, and it blazed a happy orange from within its pit.

He made his way throughout the camp, jumping at the slightest sounds and all of his senses on high alert. The mess hall was just as empty the amphitheater had been, and the rock climbing wall lay dormant, not even spewing lava like it usually did. The canoe lake was devoid of all boats, its surface undisturbed and glittering like scales in the noon sunlight, and the volleyball courts didn't hold any demigods fighting to best their opponents. The training arena was silent, all the blunt weapons (for the younger campers who still couldn't wield actual swords yet) neatly stacked and all the dummies where they should be, and the armory didn't have a single dagger out of place. Unease began to bloom in his stomach, and his searching became slightly more frantic.

"Do you know where they went?" Percy demanded Blackjack as he patrolled the stables, searching for at least one person who may have been tending to the pegasi and Arion, who was visiting from Camp Jupiter along with Hazel and Frank. The horse was currently cussing at him and threatening that he'd rally all of the other pegasi and revolt if Percy didn't give him some gold nuggets, but the other pegasi just seemed content to ask Percy for donuts. Even Tempest had joined them, and he was asking Percy if he could have sprinkles on his Krispy Kreme.

 _No idea, boss,_ Blackjack replied, tossing his head. _Haven't seen anyone since this morning. Hey, do you mind mucking out my stall?_ Percy grimaced but complied, ignoring all of the other requests he was getting from the other occupants of the stables. He bid Blackjack farewell and trudged through the empty strawberry fields, not a satyr in sight, and finally made his way back to his cabin wondering what the hell was happening, though that lingering feeling of him forgetting something still lurked in the back of his mind. That's when something caught his eye, and when he bent down to investigate he found a trail of blue glitter going off in a seemingly random direction. Knowing that he could do nothing else but follow it, the son of Poseidon took off down the path. Was he going to face a monster who, when they died, blew up into blue glitter rather than golden dust? Had the Hecate cabin accidentally enchanted the glitter at the arts and crafts cabin to come alive and eat everyone? Percy shuddered at the thought and kept Riptide raised as he wove through the mess hall and followed the trail of glitter down to the beach. Why the beach?

Percy was so consumed in his thoughts that he scared half to death when suddenly a chorus of voices shouted, "SURPRISE!" He stumbled back, waving Riptide frantically, and fell back on his butt. Much to his delight and disgust, he was engulfed by a tidal wave of blue glitter; it was pretty, but he'd probably be washing it out of his hair for _days_ now. He looked up to see every demigod he'd ever had the privilege of knowing standing in front of him, and they all war similar expressions of amusement. Percy looked past the assembled group to see streamers, balloons, and other party favors decorating the beach, and a pile of presents was pushed off to the side.

"Wha-?" Percy asked, bewildered, and Annabeth broke away from the group to help haul him to his feet.

"Please don't tell me you forgot your own birthday," she groaned, casting her eyes heavenwards as if she was asking the gods why she was stuck with a total moron for a boyfriend. Oh. That's what he'd been forgetting. "Otherwise I'll take off my shoe and beat you with it."

"Then I won't tell you," Percy replied, a bit startled. He most certainly didn't want to be beaten by Annabeth's shoe. Leo muttered something frightened-sounding, and from the Spanish that Percy had picked up from working with him and Reyna, he seemed terrified about " _la chanclas_ ".

"Come on, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth chided and began dusting him off, making a disgusted sound when she realized that he hadn't brushed his hair. She fixed it up with a few quick swipes of her hands. "By the way, we found a message written in the sand from your dad saying happy birthday. He couldn't be here, though 'cause he said he had a problem to deal with. And Reyna had to stay behind to run Camp Jupiter and make sure that the civilians were okay so she says happy birthday, too."

"I'll iris message her later. In the meantime, let's swim!" A chorus of cheers went up from the crowd and the sounds of hundreds of demigods stampeding towards the waves couldn't've possibly been more exciting. Just as Percy was about to join them, he felt a hand on his arm and was surprised to see Jason worrying his lip in between his teeth.

"Hey…um…is your dad going to kill me for getting on his home turf?" he asked, his brow furrowing with his worry. "I kinda don't want to die."

"Of course not. Don't worry," Percy assured, "Unlike your dad, my dad isn't like that." Jason seemed completely fine with the jab at his father, and gave him a lopsided grin. Before they could dive in and join the others, Annabeth bustled through them and fretted over the fact that Percy didn't have a bathing suit, but the son of Poseidon assured her that he wouldn't get wet and could swim just as easily in his regular clothes, and with that he tackled Jason by the waist right as a wave broke over them.

"Jackson, you little shit-" the son of Zeus began, but he was clobbered by another wave that may or may not have been engineered by Percy so that it was ten times bigger than normal. The day went on like that. People played chicken and Marco Polo, gifts were opened, and the best gift by far had to be the one that Frank, Hazel, Jason, Piper, and Leo had all chipped in to get him. It was a huge, clear surfboard that looked like water was floating inside, and it had a huge trident emblazoned where the logo of the manufacturers would usually be.

"Whoa!" Percy breathed as Piper handed the surfboard over to him. It was smooth to the touch, and he couldn't help running his hands all over it because he just couldn't manage to get enough of the feeling. Despite that, he felt little ridges that would make sure that he wasn't going to slip and slide once he got on it. "You didn't have to!"

"Of course we did," Hazel retorted, crossing her arms, but despite her stern tone, her eyes were sparkling. "Everyone's birthday had to be extra-special this year because it's the anniversary of Gaea's defeat."

"Are you going to try it out?" Frank asked, giving a childish little bounce. "The waves seem good today, but then again you could just conjure the good waves yourself." Percy smiled sheepishly at his friends, rubbing back of his neck.

"I've never actually went surfing," he confessed, and everyone exchanged disbelieving looks.

"You've got to be kidding me," Leo scoffed, "The son of Poseidon not being able to surf? Who would've thought?"

"Hey, I just never seemed to have the time," Percy defended. That was a bit of a lie, considering his and his mom's beach house that they constantly visited when he was younger, but he didn't want to go off and tell his friends that he'd never had the money to afford a surfboard, much less an apartment big enough to stash it somewhere. Annabeth's knowing look told him that she was well aware of this fact, but he didn't really mind.

"Don't worry, you'll probably be a natural at it," Piper assured. "My dad and I always went surfing together, and I can teach you." That day had to be one of the best birthday ever. Most of the time was spent learning how to surf, and it was no surprise that he easily got the hang of it, though if he said that wasn't cheating he'd be a complete and total liar; while most had issues with balance, Percy manipulated the water to make sure that he got the smoothest ride possible.

"Great job!" Will called out, in the process of dunking a very disgruntled-looking Nico, who Percy was surprised had even come into the water at all. It must've taken some severe heckling on Will's part to make him even go near the water. Percy gave them both a thumbs up as he rode a wave in and deposited the surfboard off to the side with the other presents so he could have some fun with his friends. He and Jason wrestled like no tomorrow, and Jason still didn't give up despite the fact that Percy was in his element and beat him every time. He jumped the waves with Hazel and Frank, chatted with Piper and Leo, and in general hung out with Annabeth, occasionally picking her up and tossing her into the water for no reason except to her indignant shout as she hit the water.

Yup, it was a pretty damn good day.

Until suddenly it wasn't.

The water suddenly became ten degrees colder, the calm aqua of it turning into a stormy grey as the sky clouded over. Percy was just in the middle of joining Will in the fun of dunking Nico when he felt the eerie presence in the water, and he felt shivers racing up and down his spine as the powerful feeling of _wrongness_ washed over him. The waves suddenly became wild, frothing and churning, and the startled cries of campers were echoing all around as they too caught on that something wasn't quite right. One would've thought that it was Poseidon's doing, that the god was somehow mad and was taking it out on the demigods, but Percy knew without a doubt that this wasn't caused by his father.

"Percy, what's happening?" Hazel squeaked, already wading out of the water with Frank not far behind her. Many others got the hint and decided to get out as well, but Percy lingered, his eyes scanning the horizon critically as the clouds blotted out the sun, swathing the beach in shadow. Jason opened his mouth to undoubtedly repeat Hazel's question, but Percy held a finger to his lips, his eyes scanning the water. I could feel the worry radiating from everyone, and despite the fact that most of the campers had retreated to the safety of the shore, many of them stayed, somewhat curious, but still frightened all the same. Annabeth waded up next to him and put her hand on his arm, her expression a mixing bowl of puzzlement, concern, fear, and mild interest all rolled into one, but that's when Percy saw it; several spines peeking out from the water that dipped below the surface mere seconds after he spotted them. He got a glimpse of a huge, scaly body and his heart began to roar in his chest.

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE WATER!" Percy bellowed just as a spine-tingling roar ripped through the air. A chorus of shrieks rose from the demigods as people desperately scrambled to get out of the water, and despite her shouted oppositions Percy shoved Annabeth towards Piper, who grabbed her arm and hauled her from the water. Another roar shook the earth to its very foundations, and never in his life had Percy felt so utterly terrified; this was a sneak attack, an attack on his home base, and all of his friends were here and unarmed. His breath sawed in and out of his chest as he dove towards the shore, and he reached out his arms as he called to his power, which surged up to meet him as the water heaved and pushed the stragglers onto the sand, where they scrambled for purchase and watched Percy with wide eyes. Belatedly, Percy realized that he was really far out, much farther out than what he'd first thought, and he began his mad swim towards the land as his friends screamed out to him. Using the water to propel him forwards, he was about ten yards away from the beach when everyone on the shore screamed in terror.

Percy turned around, slowly, and was faced with the sight of a huge head rising from the surface, waterfalls streaming from its face as it regarded Percy with three sets of eyes, all of them glowing blue. The very head itself must've been as large as a luxury yacht, wreathed with a halo of twisted horns, and its snow-white scales were blinding even with the sun covered up. So much so that Percy had to shield his eyes. Using a little estimation, Percy concluded that the thing must've been longer than a city block, and he swallowed hard as the sea serpent regarded him with a sort of detached interest, like the interest one might take in a delectable-looking meal. Percy swallowed hard when he realized that _he_ was the meal. He drew Riptide from his pocket, suddenly very much glad that he'd been wearing his clothes and not his bathing suit, and the beast seemed to balk a little at that, and the son of Poseidon didn't dare make a move as it watched him. And then, with a snarl, it spread the fans on its neck like some sort of frilled lizard and let out a piercing shriek that wasn't at all friendly-sounding.

"Get out of there, Percy!" Jason bellowed, his hand sparking, but Percy knew that his friend couldn't attack unless he wanted to electrocute Percy as well. As much as he loved water, Percy hated the fact that it was a near-perfect conductor of electricity. Percy would've "gotten out of there", but that's when the serpent lunged, and Percy ducked under the water just in time as a huge mouth, lined with glinting razor sharp teeth, chomped down on the spot where Percy had just been. The sea was swept into a raging turmoil as the serpent abandoned its stealth in favor of brute strength, and Percy realized, to his horror, the fact that it was intelligent enough to have used its mass to send the currents sweeping Percy into the deeper parts of the ocean, where it wouldn't have to worry about getting stuck in the shallows.

His friends were near specks as they panicked and ran to get their weapons, and with a jolt Percy realized that, unless they managed to hitch up some pegasi to a chariot in record time, there was no way that they could help him. Besides, the stables were incredibly far away from the beach, and nobody, not even Chiron with his horse limbs, could get there in time. He had to face this thing alone. The sea serpent was circling him, surrounding him in the coils of its long, thick body, and Perseus felt his heart jackhammer in his chest when he realized he'd have to get under the armor-like scales to wound it. He manipulated the water so that he had something solid to stand on and wasn't floating around helplessly, and raised his sword.

"You want some? Come and get some!" Percy yelled, and the sea serpent replied by surging towards him, the waves roiling and leaping with its every movement. Percy thought that he was fast in the water, but this serpent was impossibly faster, to the point where it might as well be coasting through air. The water seemed to part for it before it even reached the spot, and that was something that made Percy realize that this monster had just as much control over the ocean as he did. Percy called to his power, and it responded in kind, however the water wasn't doing anything. Whenever Percy tried to level a tsunami in the serpent's direction, it transferred as nothing more than a ripple, and the son of Poseidon tossed into the air like a ragdoll by the monster's huge head. He was vaguely aware of the sensation of falling, and he hit the water with dizzying force, struggling to remain on his feet as he charged towards the writhing creature.

As the sea serpent came around for another attack, he swung his sword in what would've been a lethal arc for any normal brute, but the Celestial Bronze glanced off of the scaly armor with a metallic clang. The serpent charged towards him, its body undulating as it propelled itself forwards at impossible speeds, and once again tossed Percy into the air. The demigod wondered why it hadn't eaten him yet. It'd had plenty of good opportunities, but yet it continued to just throw Percy into the air over and over again. Percy realized with a jolt that it was _playing_ with him. No, not in the cutesy way; he was playing with Percy like a cat would do before it had the little mouse for its dinner. Whenever Percy tried to get away, tried to get back to shore where his friends were frantically loading fiery crossbows and catapults, there was the sea serpent, herding him out to sea. Any wave that he could've summoned had abandoned him, and he _felt_ his powers working, but the water just wouldn't respond. There was a bigger presence there. A stronger alpha.

The sea serpent continued to toy with Percy for what felt like hours, and the son of Poseidon's heart sank whenever the fiery arrows and hunks of coal set alight pinged off of the monster's scales and fell uselessly into the water with dejected plops. The sea serpent ignored them almost dutifully, too concentrated on trying to see how high it could whip Percy into the air, and the current record was about fifty yards, much to Percy's horror. The demigod was getting dizzy with all of the manhandling he was being subjected to, and then with a jolt it suddenly came to him; this was the "problem" that Poseidon had been handling, the problem that had prevented him from giving Percy a birthday salutation in person. His stomach dropped like a leaden ball, but it wasn't because he was careening back to the ocean surface after a particularly hard toss on the serpent's part; it was because it meant that Poseidon had been overcome by the serpent. It was really the only explanation as to why his dad wasn't here kicking the serpent's butt.

He felt like he was going to go unconscious with the realization. This thing was powerful enough to defeat gods and he was going up against it alone. Nobody was going to rescue him. He was just raising his sword in a weak attempt to defend himself when suddenly a horrifyingly familiar voice rang out loud and clear, "Down, Oceanus!" The sea serpent halted almost immediately, curling its body around Percy almost lazily as its head turned towards the source of the sound. And there, standing on a small raft that had appeared out of nowhere, was Polybotes. Percy blinked and suddenly the giant was lounging in the pace in between Oceanus' eyes, and the sea serpent seemed totally cool with that as it lowered its head so Polybotes could come face to face with the son of his biggest rival.

The rivulets of water that were still streaming from Oceanus' head immediately turned to poison as Polybotes touched it, and despite the fact that the beast seemed to be unaffected, its six eyes watched the poison warily as it dribbled into the water and began to cloud it like a terrible stain. Percy swallowed hard as the giant regarded him, his eyes glinting with something that was so much more terrible than malice, something so pure and dark that Percy couldn't even find the words to describe it.

"What do you want, Polybotes?" Percy demanded, assuming a defensive position. It at least gave him the illusion of security, what with the giant serpentine body circling around him and the powerful giant that should be dead working in tandem with it.

"I have a bone to pick with you, sea brat," Polybotes snarled, twirling a huge serrated dagger in his fingers.

"No shit, Sherlock," Percy retorted, his tone trying for 'brave hero' but instead getting 'I'm-about-to-pee-my-pants-please-help'. "Get to the point." Polybotes let out a low growl, which was magnified by tenfold as Oceanus echoed it, the deep bass rumble of the sound making the water around Percy vibrate and ripple wildly.

"Someone resurrected me specifically, but only because I may be the one who hates you the most," Polybotes replied smoothly, his voice like honey-coated poison. "This certain someone despises you more than anything, and therefore, using their all-encompassing power, teleported me back to the mortal world. I'm here to fulfill my promise from all those years ago."

 _"_ _I've followed your progress, son of Neptune," said Alcyoneus. "Your fight with Kronos? Well done. Gaea hates you above all others…except perhaps for that upstart Jason Grace. I'm sorry I can't kill you right away, but my brother wishes to keep you as a pet. He thinks it will be amusing when he destroys Neptune to have the god's favorite son on a leash…"_

 _"_ _I will take you prisoner, Percy Jackson," Polybotes snarled. "I will torture you under the sea. Every day the water will heal you, and every day I will bring you closer to death."_

"What promise?" Percy scoffed, despite the fact that blood was roaring in his ears and his heart was slamming against his ribcage. That promise had plagued him in his dreams for months after the battle with him at Camp Jupiter had ended, and there was no way in hell that he could've ever forgotten it.

"I don't think I have to spell it out for you," Polybotes replied softly, his voice sharp like a blade. He snapped his fingers and everything went black.

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Hello, everyone. I'm Iwovepizza and I've adopted this story 'Save Me' from Christmascookie26. It may not be the same as what you've read, since I went back and added stuff to make it a bit longer and more detailed. Just a note that this will take a very, very dark turn in the future. Hope you liked it! Don't forget to follow/favorite and review, please.**


	2. Chapter 2

Percy woke to someone slapping him across the face. Hard. He jerked violently, his eyes still screwed shut and received another slap for his trouble, and almost immediately he was awake and on high alert. The first thing he saw was Polybotes. He was huge, towering over Percy like a lopsided building with green dreads and snake dandruff, and Percy cringed and wrinkled his nose at the stench of rotting flesh on his breath. He would've pinched his nose, but he found that his hands were chained high above his head and he was standing up in the middle of some sort of prison cell. The walls were made of stone bricks, neatly stacked on top of one another and without any cracks or weaknesses in sight, which made Percy's heart sink a little as he shook away of the last traces of sleep. The smell of mildew reigned, overpowering his senses and filling his nostrils with a sickly sweet scent, and on top of the fact that his wrists were killing him, he knew that he'd been in better situations.

"Well, well, well, look who's awake?" Polybotes crooned, circling around Percy like a panther stalking its prey. "Finally decided to join the party?" Despite the terrible situation, Percy actually found it in himself to be mouthy.

"What, your party of one?" the son of Poseidon retorted, his chains clinking together as he tested their strength. Yup, they were pretty strong. There was no way he was going to go all 'action movie hero' and break the chain without a sweat because it was somehow weakened. He was rewarded for his backtalk by another slap, and he felt his cheek starting to swell as his skin stung terrible. He'd suffered worse, though, and grit his teeth though the pain.

"Shut up you little bastard," Polybotes growled, his eyes flashing dangerously as he bared his huge, serrated teeth in a wicked snarl.

Looking back, Percy seriously wondered what was wrong with him when, regardless of the fact that he was standing in front of a very powerful (and very angry) giant, he scolded mockingly, "Is that any way to treat your house guests?" He braced himself for another slap, but was surprised when he heard a low chuckle coming from Polybotes, though it was quite humorless.

"House guest?" he prompted, incredulous. "Try prisoner." For a moment the giant's eyes trained on something on the ceiling, and when Percy followed the direction of his gaze his stomach dropped like a leaden ball. Hanging from the ceiling, clinking and jangling in the horrible draft that seeped in through the walls, were tons of chains. Some ended in handcuffs, others in jagged hooks, but the one thing they all had in common were the flaking stains of crimson. The inside of the handcuffs was lined with dried blood, from people who'd tried to thrash in a vain effort to get away, and the hooks were almost completely soaked. Percy realized, to his horror, that there were names engraved onto every single one of them.

 **Cassandra** \- Hermes

 **Peter** \- Athena

 **Horace** – Bellona

 **Emily** – Mars

There were tons of more names, but those were the only ones that he could really make out. Everyone had one set of handcuffs and two hooks. Slowly, he lowered his eyes to come face to face with the crudely engraved letters that were on his handcuffs.

 **Percy** – Poseidon

They were clean. Pristine, even. Ready to be used.

Ready to be bloodied.

Percy, trembling turned his head to see two gleaming hooks in the corner. Both unused like the handcuffs he was in. They were far away, but he could make out the familiar shape of his name on both of them. He wanted to collapse, wanted to sob a he imagined all of the creative ways that those hooks could be used on him as the handcuffs held him still, but he remained strong as he met Polybotes's eyes with an expression that he hoped was much braver-looking than how he felt inside.

"What are you going to do to me?" Percy demanded, trying to make his tone sound as stern as possible, but his heart sank when he saw Polybotes regard him with great amusement. "I want answers right here, right now."

"You're in no positions to make demands, sea brat," the giant told him calmly, and the winding back was the only warning that Percy got before he was punched in the gut. Hard. Before he could force it down, Percy was vomiting. He had enough sense of mind to make sure he didn't puke all over himself, but it was still disgusting. Almost as bad as the satisfied smirk on Polybotes's face. He didn't know how long it had been since he'd eaten, but he knew that he'd needed that food to keep him alive, and now it was splattered all over the ground. He didn't know the next time Polybotes was going to feed him. "From now on, you follow my orders. If you decide to bitch and whine or disobey me, you're going to suffer a whole lot more, got it?" Percy would've defied him just to prove a point, but he was feeling hollow from throwing up and could only nod mutedly.

"Okay, so here's the deal," Polybotes announced, lowering himself so that he was eye-to- eye with the demigod. Percy was exhausted, but he forced his eyes open to hear what the giant had to say. The words to come may be the ones that were going to keep him alive throughout his little stay here. "Oceanus is patrolling the little island that we're on in the Sea of Monsters. Uncharted. Practically unfindable. Also out of your Daddy's territory." Percy wanted to scream in despair, but he didn't want to give Polybotes the satisfaction of hearing his suffering voiced aloud. "If Poseidon _did_ manage to find us, he and whatever army he was leading would be slaughtered by Oceanus. He's ten times as powerful as before, and he had been in control of the ocean for many eons before your upstart father took over. Don't bother to try and contact your friends or anything, since, as you know, all communication is cut off when you're in the Sea of Monsters. If I do catch you trying to contact them, I will cut off all your fingers and make you wear them as a necklace. Understand?"

"I understand," Percy replied, his voice hoarse and quivering slightly. He hated himself for that.

"Now, I've already asked Poseidon if he wanted to exchange his trident for your sorry little ass, but he did the smart thing and refused. Of course, had he agreed it wouldn't've been much fun, now would it?" Percy didn't know how to answer that, so he remained silent. "Here's the deal, I'm going to give you orders and you're going to follow them." The demigod's brow furrowed, but he didn't object just yet. He wanted to see what he was getting into. The giant reached up and unlatched the handcuffs from the chain, allowing Percy to lower his arms and stand flat on his feet again (the chain had hoisted his arms just high enough to force him onto his tippy toes, but not enough to leave him dangling), and immediately drew something from his belt. Oh shit, that was a whip.

"Now, sit," Polybotes commanded.

"Sit?" Percy asked dubiously, well aware of the fact that his hands were free and he could make a grab for Riptide in his pocket…only, he realized that he didn't feel the familiar weight of the pen. What had happened to it? What had the giant done to make it so that his weapon didn't reappear?

"Are you deaf? Yes. I said sit," Polybotes answered, his voice firm. Percy's face scrunched up as he regarded the giant with a look of pure puzzlement.

"Why would I do that?" he asked, "And I'm not doing this to be snarky I'm actually genuinely curious." Polybotes snarled, a low sound that reverberated throughout the cell and sent the chains on the ceiling jangling like a chorus of rattlesnakes.

"Because I said so," he replied coldly. "Now do it."

"What? No! I'm not your dog," Percy scoffed, and he felt his heart begin to slam against his ribcage as a wicked grin spread across Polybotes' face.

"Not yet, but I can still beat you like one."

He was only barely able to register the crack of a whip, but then a harsh red line had carved itself into Percy's chest. The demigod cried out, and Polybotes shuddered down to his very toes, the glint in his eyes downright hateful.

"That was very nice, Percy. Let's see what other pretty songs you can sing for me," he chuckled, and Percy raised his chained hands up to try and defend himself as the whip snapped through the air and ripped some of the skin off of his arm. The cuts weren't deep but they sure as hell were agony, and the blood began to steadily drip from the wounds, leaving warm, sickly trails in their wake. "Or, you could make this easier on yourself and sit down like a good boy."

Percy spat blood onto Polybotes's reptilian dragon feet, though the giant didn't seem to be disgusted with the gesture. "Never, you sick fuck," the demigod snarled. Polybotes sighed, shaking his head and tutting.

"Well then you brought this on yourself," he told him softly, like someone scolding a wayward child. And then the whip came down again. Percy fought valiantly for what seemed like hours, managing to dodge some of the blows that sailed through the air, but most of them made their mark and slashed Percy's skin to ribbons. Percy feigned left and darted right, but there wasn't much space in the cell, especially with the huge giant taking it all up, and the whip caught him across the face. He screamed as blood dripped into his eyes, staining the world red, and his entire body felt like it was on fire as he stumbled along trying desperately to not get hit. All his efforts were in vain, however, as new lashes crisscrossed over old ones and blood gushed forth from his injuries. He was delirious with pain and hunger and exhaustion, and Polybotes seemed to be enjoying himself pretty much as crimson splattered on the walls and dripped onto the floors. Percy could barely keep himself upright, his knees threatening to buckle, and he steadied himself of the wall, which gave Polybotes time to lash him three times on his side.

"Stop!" Percy wailed, blood pouring from his mouth. He held his hands up, the backs of which were laced with cuts where he'd tried to shield his face, and Polybotes stopped mid-swing, the whip dripping with crimson. "I'll do it, I'll do it!" He slowly lowered himself to his knees, and promptly sat. Polybotes grinned, revealing serrated teeth that looked like they could grind bone to dust, and Percy's heart jackhammered in his chest as the giant approached him, his terrified sea green eyes trained on the whip that swung lazily with his every movement. Polybotes raised his hand and Percy flinched back, expecting a slap, but instead he wiped away a stray tear that had dribbled from the corner of the demigod's eye. He patted Percy's head gently, carding his fingers through the demigod's blood-slicked hair, and stepped back.

"Good job, Percy. I'm proud of you." A sick, twisted part of Percy that he hated with all of his heart basked in the praise, but he shoved the feeling down. "Now, can you lie down for me?" Percy balked a little, scowling, but Polybotes twirled the whip almost nonchalantly and he quickly collapsed onto his side, air sawing in and out of his lungs as he felt himself soaking in his own fallen blood. His wounds were screaming, his body begging for rest, and his stomach was mewling pitifully. Polybotes planted a scaly foot onto Percy's neck and the demigod couldn't help but whimper, his eyes wild as he stared up at the giant, whose long claws were digging into Percy's flesh and leaving shallow cuts that oozed blood, but there was the threat that he could dig deeper with them. "You listen to me, you live. You _don't_ listen to me, you get tortured so badly you wish you were dead. Capisce?"

Percy swallowed hard, his throat clicking loudly in the hush that had fallen inside of the cell. He nodded as best as he could and Polybotes released him, retreating to the huge cell door that Percy was pretty sure hadn't been there a moment ago, but he was too tired to do anything but lie there, his body in anguish, as Polybotes exited and closed the cell door, which then disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place. There was a sound like a crank turning, and suddenly water was spewing from two holes in the wall that were slightly larger than Percy's fist. The water began to fill the cell, and Percy remained motionless as his lungs easily took the water and his wounds began to heal. He slipped into an uneasy sleep.

-Ω-

"We can only assume that they're having help from a much more powerful entity if the two of them were able to best you on your home turf," Zeus explained to Poseidon as the war council officially began. All of the gods were shifting uneasily as the footage that Polybotes had sent them of Perseus being whipped nearly to death played in a loop over Hestia's hearth. The goddess tending the flames looked like she was about to be sick, and she tried to keep her eyes on anything but the cloudy image that was being formed by the smoke from the fire. There was no sound, but Percy's mouth opened every time the whip came down on his body, so there was little left to the imagination.

"We have to get my son back," the sea god stated firmly. "It's my fault that he's in there, and it's my job to get him out again."

"It's not your job to do anything," Zeus replied simply, and Poseidon's fists clamped down on the arms of his chair. "You made the right choice. It was either your trident or the boy, and you know how devastating it would be if Polybotes got his hands on your weapon."

"But Percy-"

"Percy is suffering for the greater good," Zeus interrupted. "He is a martyr. End of story."

"He saved the world countless times and this is how we reward him," Poseidon muttered, running his hands through his hair in his frustration. "He's going to be tortured to insanity and then slaughtered if we don't cooperate with Polybotes."

"I forbid you from giving over your trident," Zeus snapped, his voice firm. "It would trigger the apocalypse."

"I'm not letting my only son sit and rot in a cell, not if I can help it," Poseidon growled, and the tension in the air was so thick that one could cut through it with a knife. The other gods shifted uncomfortably as the two brothers stared each other down, both refusing to be the one to look away first. "Though I'm reluctant, I will comply with Polybotes's terms if it comes to it. Right now, though, I want to concentrate on the rescue mission."

"Rescue mission?" Zeus scoffed, his eyes blazing and his teeth grinding together in his aggravation. "What rescue mission?"

"The rescue mission that you're going to organize right now," Poseidon replied simply, his tone a challenge, a dare for Zeus to argue, and the lightning god gladly took up that dare.

"That's not how this works!" Zeus bellowed, leaping to his feet as arcs of electricity crackled around him. Poseidon rose as well, and even though he took a few steps back, he remained firm, his shoulders tense and prepared to fight if needed. The other gods had drawn their weapons, looking back and forth between the two arguing brothers and wondering if they'd have to choose sides, and Zeus continued, "We cannot risk thousands our own for the sake of your son, a single person. He is a demigod. He is born to die," Zeus cut Poseidon off before the sea god could argue, " _You_ exacted that fate upon him. No demigods that do great things ever have a happy ending, and this is Fate."

"How do you know what is Fate and what isn't?" Poseidon demanded, pointing his trident at Zeus accusingly. "The power has gone to your head, brother. Makes you not care for every single person. All you care about is the big picture. The greater good. What if it was your son or daughter facing torture at the hands of Porphyrion? Wouldn't you want to rush to their aid? Though Jason and Thalia are strong, they can only handle so much."

"I would've sat back and let Fate take its course," Zeus replied, though he sounded unsure of himself. "They are my children, but it's obligatory that I make sure thousands of lives aren't at risk just for two lives."

"But this is Perseus Jackson that we're talking about," Poseidon explained. "He's more than just 'a life', he's a demigod, my only son, who's saved the world several times over. He deserves more than this." Zeus's face turned a color usually reserved for tomatoes as murmurs of agreement began to flit through the assembled Olympians. There was silence for a few moments, with nothing but the crackle of the fire, the shuffling of the Olympians, and the sound of the organized chaos going on outside the grand hall's walls.

And then, finally, Zeus sighed, "Fine, we will organize a search party. But only _one._ And it has to be consisted of demigods." The entire room finally was allowed to breathe.

"Thank you, brother," Poseidon murmured, dipping his head. "I am indebted to you."

"Don't I know it," Zeus replied, a brotherly mischief twinkling in his eyes. Poseidon gulped.

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Please follow/favorite and review! Constructive criticism very much wanted! No like seriously I need to know what I need to improve. PLEASE.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. The plot belongs to Christmascookie26**


	3. Chapter 3

Percy, despite the fact that the Fates had blessed him with a dreamless slumber, had an incredibly rude wake-up call. Again, he awoke to a hard slap on the face, and his cheek pulsed with pain as the demigod was jerked from sleep, his eyes fluttering open. He was chained to the ceiling again, his wrists having started to bleed sometime during the night, and blood was dribbling down his arm and soaking into his shirt, which was so tattered it was being held together by threads.

"A simple 'good morning' would do," Percy groaned, blinking blearily as Polybotes came into sharper focus.

"Insolent boy," the giant snarled and backhanded him. Percy jerked in his chains and was surprised to find that, though he was a little sore, he had no wounds. The memories of yesterday's…activities…came trickling back to him, and his body shuddered as phantom pains wracked it.

"I guess you're not a morning person," Percy prompted, and the giant threw his hands up in the air in his frustration.

"You will always perplex me, son of Poseidon," Polybotes snorted as he circled around the helpless demigod. Percy tried to keep an air of nonchalance, but whenever he looked at Polybotes, all he could see was the whip raised high in the air. "I tell you that running your mouth will get you punished, and yet you still do it." He punched Percy in the gut like yesterday, and he was half glad and half worried that there was nothing to throw up this time. "Since you apparently like to be in control of things, I'll let you choose what happens to you." Percy swallowed hard, eying Polybotes as the giant unsheathed a wicked-looking knife from a scabbard on his hip. Though it was just a knife, there were an infinite amount of ways that he could use it.

"So, what will it be?" Polybotes asked, his grin absolutely wicked. He held the knife point right up to the demigod's left eye, and Percy's heart leapt in his chest. "Eenie," he moved to his right eye, "Meenie," the knife point rested on the green-eyes boy's nose, "Miney," the knife suddenly went down and tapped right above Percy's groin, his eyes alight with sick humor, "Or Moe?" Percy was silent, and he screwed his eyes shut as if that would somehow keep them from being carved out of their sockets, tears leaking out of the corners. He pursed his lips into a thin line and hoped that, if he didn't reply, Polybotes would leave him alone.

"C'mon, sea brat, I need an answer," Polybotes boomed, slicing a neat cut across Percy's cheek. The demigod screamed. "Otherwise, I don't know which one to cut, so I might as well do all four of them." Percy sobbed quietly, shaking his head and squirming in his chains, the sharp bite of metal on his wrists and the blood trickling steadily down the side of his face absolutely unbearable. The giant sighed, "Suit yourself," and the point of the knife began to dig into the corner of his left eye.

"No. No! NO! _NO!_ " Percy screeched, thrashing in his chains and desperately trying to get away. "Don't! Please! I'll sit. I'll stay. I'll roll over. _Please don't!_ "

"Your begging is music to my ears, son of the sea god. Do it again and maybe I'll let you off the hook." Percy took deep, gulping breaths to try and calm himself down, but blood was roaring in his ears.

"P-P-p-please," he stammered, his voice brittle and raspy. "Don't do it."

"I'm gonna need a little more than that," Polybotes crooned, putting a hand on the side of Percy's face and rubbing away the tears there. The demigod despised himself for not drawing away; the touch was gentle. It was non-pain. He leaned into it and failed to recognize the horrible grin that spread across Polybotes's face.

"Please, please, please, please," Percy murmured, his voice assuming a desperate note. "Please, I'm begging you, _don't._ I'll do anything." Polybotes drew away and gave a satisfied nod, and Percy's knees would've buckled had that not have meant his wrists would be murdered by the chains.

"Anything, you say?" the giant asked, and Percy's stomach dropped like a leaden ball, but he nodded.

" _Anything_ ," he responded, his voice barely a whisper. The demigod was slapped across the face yet another time, and a new wave of blood gushed forth from the cut on his cheek. He didn't even have the energy to cry out.

"Then keep your mouth shut, you hear? Next time, I cut out your eyes and hack your nose off, the time after that, Little Percy's getting one hell of a ride," he gave a pointed look down, and the demigod shuddered. "The time after _that_ is when I cut out your tongue, because by that point I'm sick and tired of your backtalk and on top of that I will cut off your hands and feet for the trouble. I'm hoping you learn your lesson and we don't have to go there."

"I'll learn," Percy answered, and was then silent. Polybotes stepped back for a moment, looking Percy over critically as if the demigod was going to suddenly perk up and yell, 'Haha, just kidding!' but when that didn't happen, he smirked.

"Good job," he stated, sounding slightly impressed. "And Oceanus was betting that I'd kill you out of frustration by the end of the first day." He paused, as if waiting for Percy to make a snide remark, but the demigod just stared at him expectantly, forcing back the words that were on the tip of his tongue. "But don't think that I'll let you sleep this off. The day's not over yet." Percy wanted to scream, but all that came out was a tortured whimper that Polybotes seemed to enjoy way too much for the demigod's safety. The door appeared once more and Polybotes stepped out, leaving Percy to the turmoil of his own thoughts.

What was Polybotes going to do to him? Was he going to ask Percy to do more useless things like 'sit' and 'stay' and train him like a dog? That, Percy could get on board with, because it was just mindless submission and was surely better than the other things that the demigod's imagination was cooking up. Would Polybotes hang him by his feet and use him as a punching bag? Would he dig knives into his wrists and ask him to recite poetry that his ADHD-ridden mind would never remember? Percy was just in the middle of something involving Polybotes holding his head down in a vat of muskeg when the giant re-entered the room with a car battery and two jumper cables. The demigod couldn't help letting out a terrified mewl.

Polybotes set the car battery down and produced something from behind him, which just so happened to be a leather head strap with two bulbous metal things attached to either side of it. They looked perfect for attaching jumper cables to them, and Percy thrashed violently, wailing as Polybotes wrestled the strap over his head. The two metal pieces were right above his ears, and the strap was digging into his forehead uncomfortably. He attached the cables to the car battery and touched the two clamps at the end together, his eyes glinting with malice as they sparked. Percy sobbed.

"Okay, first thing's first," Polybotes growled, pulling over a sturdy-looking stool that he'd brought in with the car battery. "Let's just start small. Can you tell me what your name is?" Percy's fear melted into confusion, and his brow furrowed. Polybotes rolled his eyes. "Just do it."

"My name is Perseus Jackson," Percy replied, though he was still very much puzzled. He would've asked what this was all about, but he didn't know whether that counted as being mouthy or not, and he most certainly didn't want to be without eyes or a nose.

"Good. Now, do you have a girlfriend?"

"Yes," Percy replied, but he was pretty sure that Polybotes knew this already. "Her name is Annabeth Chase."

"Right, the daughter of Athena," Polybotes murmured, mostly to himself. He turned back to the demigod. "Percy, can you tell me what Annabeth's worst fear is?" He grinned as it dawned on him. This was an interrogation; if Percy refused to answer, he was going to get shocked. The son of Poseidon swallowed, the sound of his throat clicking echoing through the cell.

"You're going to try and use it against her, aren't you?" Percy murmured in disbelief. It was more of a statement than a question, really.

"Perhaps," Polybotes mused, seeming smug. "But maybe not."

"I can't," Percy replied, almost mournfully. Fear gripped him like a cold hand, and his chains rattled as he trembled. "I just…I can't." Polybotes's easygoing expression melted into one of loathing, and he bared his teeth.

"You bring this upon yourself, son of Poseidon. I don't want to do this," Polybotes warned.

 _Like hell you don't want to do this,_ Percy thought, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of self-loathing. Why did he refuse? Why did he bring this down upon himself? He shook his head clear of those thoughts; he wasn't the one at fault here, Polybotes was…at least Percy thought.

"This is your last chance to rethink your decision," Polybotes tutted, but Percy just closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable. Needless to say, the sound of Polybotes opening the prongs at the end of the jumper cables was the last thing that he could register before agony split through his head. He screamed as his entire body spasmed and shook, the electricity strong enough to make it agony but weak enough not to kill him. It lasted about five seconds before it was gone, leaving Percy limply dangling from the chains. Polybotes got lose, but he was merely a blurry silhouette in Percy's vision. "I'm going to ask you again, sea brat: What is Annabeth Chase's weakness? Answer me!"

"Over my dead body," Percy growled.

The suffering continued.

-Ω-

"So you want the seven of us," Annabeth gestured to the rest of the demigods that were a part of the Great Prophecy, "To fight against a huge sea serpent-"

"Oceanus," Poseidon interrupted, twirling his trident nonchalantly as he regarded them all from the opposite end of an Iris message. Annabeth could see other people milling about in the background, and she was surprised to see that he was in the great hall on Mount Olympus. The circumstances must be dire if that was the case.

"Yeah, right, Oceanus, and the anti-you who just so happens to be a giant? All by ourselves?" Annabeth scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "We need much more help than that if we want to rescue Percy. Giants need demigods and gods working together, remember?"

"I'm well aware of that," Poseidon stated through clenched teeth. "And that's why the gods will be monitoring your progress every step of the way. We won't be able to fight off monsters for you, but we will be able to guide you."

"And how will you do that?" Annabeth asked. "The place where they're holding Percy is no doubt warded against gods."

"That's why we're trying something new, thanks to Hades," Poseidon replied, giving Nico a nod of acknowledgement. "A messenger will be arriving soon that will be a channel of our power. We'll see out of their eyes and speak out of his mouth. I can't tell you who it is in case Polybotes sympathizers are listening in on this conversation, but you'll know." Someone said something off-screen, and Poseidon's eyes widened. "Sorry to cut this short, but we have problems arising that have to be dealt with." And with that, he cut through the message and severed the connection.

"I hate gods," Annabeth muttered. She turned to Chiron, "So a god, and one of the Big Three, to be exact, has issued a quest. He's specifically told us that he wants seven of us on this quest. Can we go?" Chiron worried his lip in between his teeth as millions of emotions played across his face, the gears almost visibly turning in his head.

"Let's wait until this 'messenger' comes and see what we're dealing with," Chiron ordered. Right now, I want all of you to get back to your scheduled activities. Everyone muttered things under their breath as they shuffled out of the Big House and back out into the camp, which had been drained of all excitement and happiness ever since Percy had been captured a day and a half ago. The wounds were still fresh, and everyone was solemn in everything they did. Arts and crafts was producing monstrosities that would make famous painters go into cardiac arrest because of how bad they looked (even the Apollo kids were slipping), training didn't have that touch of adrenaline anymore, capture the flag was slow-paced and boring, and campfire songs had lost their touch. The bonfire burned a sullen purple color as everyone milled about, going nowhere, and Annabeth had to give udos to the bonfire for reflecting her mood perfectly.

She hated being away from her boyfriend, hated the fact that she'd only been able to sit back and watch as Oceanus tossed him around like a ragdoll and Polybotes hauled him away. The rest of the seven were faring no better. Jason personally felt responsible for Percy's capture, since he was the only one whose abilities be able to actually reach the serpent and perhaps injure it (Leo's fire would only be doused by the water, and those scales seemed completely resistant to flame). Piper was constantly trying to cheer Jason up, but the son of Zeus was having none of it as he spent his hours grieving. It was as if Percy was already gone. Frank, too, felt responsible, since he stated he could've turned into a sea serpent, too, and helped Percy escape, but Hazel just said that he would've gotten himself killed because Oceanus would've been much bigger and stronger. Leo was disappointed that his catapults hadn't worked on the beast, but Calypso assured him that he couldn't've done anything unless he could've gotten Festus (who lived all the way back in Bunker 9) and flew in to save the day in record time. By the time he even got halfway to the Bunker, Percy would've been long gone.

Annabeth was so absorbed with her thoughts that she only noticed the bird sitting on her shoulder when everyone started staring at her. She turned her head slowly to see a huge raven sitting on her shoulder, and was surprised that she hadn't noticed it yet because of how fucking heavy it was.

"Hello," said Poseidon's voice from the raven's mouth. Its bright, beady black eyes were full of intelligence, and it ruffled its feathers a bit. "This is Aristotle, one of Apollo's ravens, and he will speak for us and look for us. He will fly ahead and guide you to where we think Percy is, which just so happens to be in the Sea of Monsters."

"Not there again," Annabeth groaned, but it was better than backpacking to Alaska or flying all the way to Greece, if she did say so herself. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning," Aristotle replied. Poseidon's voice was gone, and in its place was a smooth, sleek male voice that Annabeth didn't recognize as any of the Olympians. This must've been the raven's real voice. "I will wake you and the others up. Tell your little friend to prepare his dragon for flight. Oh, and don't forget to pack provisions. You're going to need them." And with that, the raven took off into the sky. Annabeth watched him until he was nothing more than a speck in the distance.

-Ω-

That night, at the campfire, Rachel delivered a prophecy:

 _Six shall search where no power lies_

 _They follow the sounds of the sea prince's cries_

 _To the boy's life string, the Fates will hold their scissors_

 _All while his sanity crumbles and withers_

 _The six shall be betrayed by one they call a friend and a guide_

 _And will seek to shatter the giant's pride_

 _The six will weep and try to pretend_

 _That they don't know that all lives come to an end_

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Thank you to all the wonderful people who reviewed! You guys are so spoiled so here's the third chapter in three days. I won't be updating for a week or so since I'm going on vacation, but please don't forget to follow/favorite and leave a review so I can write better!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters- that goes to Rick.**

 **I do not own the plot- that goes to Christmascookie26**


	4. Chapter 4

"Lisssten closssely, Kathy," the Archbishop rumbled as they emerged from the waves, rivulets of water dripping from the two of them like waterfalls. Immediately, Kathy's coral pink fish tail melted into legs, which were, thankfully, already clad in jeans. Her t-shirt was sopping wet, clinging to her skin, but there was little she could do about it, though she didn't really mind. "I am going on a little tour with Polybotesss around the world to rally the troops, but you will ssstay back here to care for his little…pet."

"Oh?" Kathy asked, cocking an eyebrow as she braided back her glossy, though stringy, black hair. Her pale blue skin seemed almost white in the sunlight that filtered through the dense foliage of the trees on the island, and out of the corner of her eye she saw Oceanus's serpentine body patrolling right below the surface of the sea. The only reason they were alive at all was because Polybotes had informed Oceanus of their arrival beforehand.

"Yesss. You mussst lisssten to and follow his ordersss to a T. If you have a missshap, little nereid, I'm no longer going to be the biggessst threat to your sssistersss, understand?" the Archbishop growled, revealing rows of serrated teeth as he grinned. Kathy nodded vigorously, swallowing hard, and with that they were off. The nereid swallowed hard as the sea disappeared from view behind the tightly-knit trees, worrying at the bracelet around her wrist that made sure that she wouldn't be harmed if she ventured too far away from her water source. Even after several centuries, she had little trust in it, and wondered if one day she'd take one step too far away from the sea and would dissolve into water vapor.

She trailed behind the Archbishop's hulking form, trying to ease her frayed nerves by counting the spines that began at the top of his neck and disappeared beneath his ragged camo pants, but it did little to help. Focusing on nature wasn't doing her much good, either, because there was something incredibly wrong with this place. Aside from the fact that yes, it was an uncharted island amidst the treacherous waves of the Sea of Monsters, it emitted a very, very powerful aura of _wrong._ What it lacked in man eating sheep like on Polyphemus's island, I made up for in eerie silence. There were no birds singing in the trees, no wind making the leaves rustle, no critters shuffling in the undergrowth. It was just silence. Kathy felt uncomfortable with all the racket that she and the Archbishop were making; snapping twigs, crushing leaves, and simply being an all-around disturbance to the dark tranquility of the island.

"Don't ssstray too far from the path," the Archbishop warned, but there was a glint in his yellow serpentine eyes that unnerved Kathy to no end. That, and the fact that he was a seven foot dragon creature that walked on two legs like a human. "Otherwissse, Polybotes's basssilisksss will get you." They walked for what felt like hours, and Kathy's feet, which usually took the form of a tail, were not used to this much exertion and quickly began to ache. They were bare and getting cut up and bruised from all the sharp rocks and sticks, though she didn't dare complain to the Archbishop, who couldn't really relate to her pain since his feet were scaled and clawed, perfect for traversing land.

Eventually, the trees began to thin out, the thick, sturdy boughs replaced by skimpy little trunks that could be bent like a catapult. Those trees became coarse shrubs, which turned into tall grasses that itched when they brushed over Kathy's arms. She still remained dutifully glued to the cobblestone path, her eyes scanning her surroundings warily as she caught a glimpse of a huge, serpentine body weaving through the stalks. The day was blisteringly hot, and without the cover of the trees, Kathy felt like she was sweating buckets as the sun beat down on her, and she feared she's get third degree sun burns just by being out there. Thankfully, as a nymph she was never dehydrated, and took small pride in the fact that the Archbishop had to stop to take a long swig from his canteen. The cobbles underfoot, though, burned unendingly, and she tried to put her feet on the stones that were shaded by the shadows cast by the tall grass. She was so absorbed in this task that she almost collided with the Archbishop when he stopped abruptly, his eyes wide with awe and affixed to a point in front of them. Kathy followed his gaze and inhaled sharply as she was faced with one of the biggest stone fortresses she had ever seen.

-Ω-

"I'd like to thank you both for coming," Polybotes announced as he guided them through the lavish hallways. They boasted high ceilings held up by Corinthian columns and were draped with elaborately woven tapestries depicting oceans, forests, mountains, and the occasional bloodbath between two armies. The red oriental carpet underfoot was a great relief compared to the terrain outside, and Kathy's feet rejoiced as she followed the two giant monsters to wherever their destination was. Wind spirits whipped this way and that, serving as air conditioning, and Kathy, being a nymph herself, could easily pick out their faces, which were, horrifyingly, blank. Their eyes were dead, their expression slack, and it looked like their only thought was to cool off the indoors. Because that's what Polybotes had told them to do. She felt like she was going to be sick, and that feeling was only heightened Polybotes turned to her, his eyes gleaming with a twisted light, "I'm sure that Percy will be glad to see you, but he's been a bit of an issue for the past two days."

"Like what?" the Archbishop asked, his eyes narrowing as his wings flared in his wariness. The lashing back and forth of his tail nearly made Kathy trip, and that would've been incredibly embarassing. "If thisss wretched thing harmsss the nereid-"

Polybotes cut him off, "I can assure you, it is being handled. You'll soon see for yourself." He chuckled to himself, and it made shivers arc up and down Kathy's spine as she wondered what Polybotes could be doing to the poor son of the sea god. "He's feisty, that one, and he would've been an excellent addition to the army, but it's better to take my anger out on him. I'm more level-headed than I've been in a while."

"I can ssssee that," the Archbishop replied, clearly impressed. "Where can I get one of these demigodsss? My hatred of their parentsss will sssurely be ssstoked once I have my own persssonal punching bag."

"You have to get your own," Polybotes scolded, though there was no real heat behind it. "Percy's strong-willed, but he'd collapse and beg to lick my shoes if he realized that I'd pawned him off to you of all people." The two of them shared a hearty laugh at that while Kathy shuddered inwardly. Whatever Polybotes doing to Percy, it wasn't good. "Speaking of Percy, I suppose I should go collect him so I can show your nereid here how to care for him while we are away." They continued down the hall, and Kathy tried to concentrate of Polybotes's words, rather than the blank-eyed faces of her kin as they circulated throughout the fortress. There must've been hundreds of them, all enslaved by a single giant, and Kathy gulped when she saw that all of them had bracelets on their wrists, just like the one that she had.

"Percy is incredibly low maintenance; he can go to the bathroom on his own, shower without being prompted, and can entertain himself pretty well, so this whole thing is going to be mostly about feeding and discipline," Polybotes explained as they crossed through a huge room that was decorated as a lounge, though there was nobody but the guards that occupied it. Kathy's stomach dropped like a leaden ball when she realized that she, on top of taking care of Percy, was in charge of punishing him. She didn't think she had the guts to exact them upon him. The giant came to a halt and nudged what looked like a silver dog bowl with one of the long claws on his foot. "He has several bowls throughout the house, but they're all filled with water. His main food bowl is in the kitchen, and you serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner there. He eats dog food, if you were wondering." Kathy felt the overwhelming urge to vomit. "But that's only when you're here and when I'm busy with something. Usually, he gets a portion of whatever I eat. But no snacks, though. We can't have him getting fat, now can we?" The Archbishop was nodding along with him, but Kathy's throat had gone dry. She was expected to only feed this demigod three times a day? What if he was starving? Kathy knew that she'd never be able to get by without at least _something_ to hold her off.

 _You are a sick, twisted son of a bitch!_ she shouted in her mind.

"I understand," was what came out instead.

"Good," Polybotes replied cheerfully, and continued down the hall. "Here are the ground rules. There are other rules for when he's around me, but you can set your own rules for yourself, got it?" Kathy nodded grimly. "One, Percy is _not_ allowed on the furniture at all. He's allowed on every carpet but the fluffy one in the main living room. This isn't for any particular reason, it's just that I very much enjoy his miserable look as he watches me sit from his spot on the hardwood floor." The Archbishop guffawed, clapping Kathy on the shoulder as he shook from head to toe with laughter, which was joined by Polybotes's, and Kathy could only smile and nod, though she was pretty sure her smile looked more like a grimace. When they finally managed to calm down, the giant continued, but with a manic expression on his face that screamed 'psychopath', "As punishment for breaking this rule, I need you to not feed him his next meal. If he gets on the furniture before lunch, don't feed him lunch. If he does it after dinner, don't feed him breakfast. He's well trained enough not to do that, but sometimes he slips up and has to be reprimanded."

"Got it," Kathy told him hoarsely, trying to imagine eating a nice, delectable meal with a starved-looking boy staring at her mournfully from off to the side.

"Two, Percy is not allowed to speak to anyone but me. Not a sound should come out of his mouth. Exceptions to this are screams, sobs, etcetera, etcetera. So, if he even tries to talk to you, I need you to get the guards to beat him within an inch of his life. No offense, but you don't look strong enough to keep him down," Polybotes replied apologetically, as if the nymph would actually take offense to the fact that he was saying she was incapable of beating a young, innocent boy half to death. If Kathy could become even more horrified than she already was, this was the time it would happen. She was afraid that if she opened her mouth, a scream would come out, so she could only incline her head in acknowledgement. "Three, Percy is prohibited from looking you in the eye like he's somehow your equal. He's not. The same punishment from rule two is applied here. Again, get the guards. Four, Percy is not allowed out of his assigned area outside. I highly suggest you keep him inside for the entire time I'm gone, but if you believe he's earned a reward, let him outside through the door in the kitchen. He has a little ten by ten pen that he can walk around in. If he is found anywhere else outside this pen, I want you to haul him to his old cell and shut the door. The guards will tell you where it is. Complete isolation for twelve hours. Only bring him food. Do not speak to him and tell the guards not to make much noise. By the time it's up, he'll be screaming his throat raw in his madness." Kathy did inhale sharply at this, and Polybotes chuckled darkly.

"That'sss a good one," the Archbishop mused, completely ignoring the nymph's obvious discomfort. "I may use that on my own captives." Kathy didn't think she could handle having to deliver food to sobbing messes of people that were going insane from isolation, so she remained silent. "But may I asssk, why can Percy only ssspeak to you?"

"Oh, he can only do so when I think he's dying to say something important and I give him permission," Polybotes answered matter-of-factly as they rounded a corner and into a hall lined with huge, arching stained glass windows that cast sunbursts of color onto the floor. "But I'm trying to train him into turning to me for comfort despite the fact that I am a threat to him."

"Do you want to give him Stockholm syndrome," Kathy stated, and she regretted the words almost immediately after they left her mouth. The Archbishop turned to her sharply, his eyes blazing with fury and the unspoken look that she knew all too well: _Your sisters will suffer for this._ She opened her mouth to apologize, but she was interrupted by Polybotes' humored rumble.

"Why yes, I suppose you could put it that way," he replied sinisterly, though there was a grin plastered across his face. He winked at her, and Kathy never though she could feel so much fear just from a gesture such as that one. "Anyway, there's only one last rule so let's get this over with before we meet Percy." Kathy's heart plummeted as she imagined what the demigod would look like. He'd been in Polybotes's care for about two months now, and Polybotes, judging from his punishments for the smallest things, was not treating him well. She imagines a boy with scars crisscrossing his body. Perhaps he had no fingers or toes? What if Polybotes had cut off his limbs entirely? Had Polybotes shaved Percy's head? Would the demigod lack a nose or perhaps an ear? All of these awful things were consuming her mind, so much so that she nearly missed what Polybotes said, "The fifth unspoken rule, since it's sort of a universal understanding, is that Percy is not allowed to try and escape. If that happens," the giant's expression darkens, "Knock him out bring him to his old cell. Don't feed him. When I get back, I'll have a few words for him…" He let his voice trail off, and Kathy doubted that the giant would kill Percy. No, he'd do something much, much worse. The nymph had not a clue what it was, but she could only imagine that it would make death seem merciful.

Polybotes showed them through what must've been the main living room, since it was considerably larger than the last one and did, indeed, have a fluffy carpet, and that blended into what looked like a small kitchen minus the oven. It was for the person who needed a snack once in a while and was rich enough to have a chef make all of their meals for them. There was, like described, a door leading from the kitchen into what must've been Percy's little fenced off area, and Kathy steeled herself for the inevitable horror that would soon meet her eyes. Before they went out, though, Polybotes offered the two of them something to eat, but both of them declined out of fear that he might've laced their food with something. It would be difficult to get through the upcoming dinner, that's for sure.

"Like I said before," Polybotes told them softly, "There was a slight…altercation between me and Percy two days ago, but it has since been resolved."

"What kind of altercation?" the Archbishop prompted, casting a glance back at his tail every so often to make sure he didn't knock something over. Kathy may be naïve, but she wasn't oblivious to the fact that the Archbishop had nearly knocked over one of Polybotes's many ancient relics on display. Luckily, the giant had been too absorbed in describing the rules to Kathy that he didn't notice the little mishap. For a huge dragon demon that was threatening to kill her sisters as blackmail to keep Kathy in line, he really could be clumsy.

"He bit me," Polybotes snarled, glowering at no one in particular as his lips contorted into a sneer. "I put the little mongrel in his place. I'm just warning you to not comment upon it. Act like it's completely normal. If he realizes from the get-go that you guys aren't here to help him, he'll be less likely to try and speak to you as a means of escape," he explained, giving Kathy a pointed look. She swallowed and nodded, very unsure of what she was going to walk out to see. Her tongue felt like sandpaper in her mouth. Polybotes was creative, though, and she gagged a little as some ideas surfaced in her mind.

There was little buildup to the moment where Polybotes unlocked the door and opened it, revealing a small patio overlooking a small patch of land. The heat slammed into her, nearly bringing her to her knees as her shirt, which had been drying off, became almost immediately sodden with sweat. The humidity was like a slap in the face, and the hair that had escaped her braid was now frizzing all over the place. She wondered how Polybotes's dreads managed to stay in line. The Archbishop, of course, had no hair to worry about. Kathy took a look around and found that the fences were really, really high. So high, in fact, that she couldn't see over it. The grass was neat and cut, but drying out in this heat wave, and there was no shade to be seen aside from a skimpy tree with a tarp under it. She took a second look.

Holy shit, that was a person.

Percy looked dead, and that was an understatement. He was thin. Plump enough just to seem lanky but skinny enough that his clothes, which were a pale, mental asylum white, hung off of his frame. They'd been designed for a much burlier person. His black hair showed the signs of once being glossy, but it was dull and stringy now, no doubt cut by Polybotes considering the jagged edges of it. A thick chain looped around his neck, weighing his head down, and snaked around until it wrapped around the tree, secured by a padlock. That wasn't even the worst part, though.

He was wearing a muzzle.

No, not the muzzles that they put on psychopaths. No, not the muzzles for kinky sex. A legit, real, wire muzzle for dogs whose straps have been adjusted to accommodate a human.

"He bit like a dog, so he gets punished like one," Polybotes told them smoothly, his eyes alight with sick humor. "That muzzle hasn't been taken off for two and a half days."

"Not if you've taken it off to let him eat," the Archbishop stated matter-of-factly, finally looking away from Percy to regard Polybotes with a smug look. Kathy's stomach heaved as the anti-Poseidon grinned wickedly.

"Who says I've been feeding him?" he answered lowly, his tone filled with amusement.

The horror she felt was unlike no other, and even the Archbishop seemed a bit rattled by the statement, but his eyes were bright with respect rather than disgust. Kathy felt like the world was spinning and turned slowly to see that, despite the horrible heat, there were no food or water bowls outside for Percy, whose breathing was quick and shallow. As a nereid, she could sense son of the sea god's emotions, and misery was pulsing off of him in waves. It was suffering in its purest form, and it was like a slap in the face. Before she could scream her lungs out, Polybotes let out a piercing whistle.

At first, Percy didn't stir, but one arm moved, then the other, and pretty soon Percy was hauling himself into a sitting position, the chain a heavy burden that restricted the movement of his head. Polybotes, after signaling to Kathy and the Archbishop to stay back on the patio, strolled over to the demigod, who began to visibly tremble at the giant's approach. Polybotes extended his foot expectantly, as if he expected Percy to kiss it, and the green-eyed boy's muzzle gave the most pitiful-sounding thunk when it touched the giant's scales. After unchaining the boy from the tree, Polybotes picked Percy up in one fluid motion and set off back to the group. Kathy wanted to scream at him to not come anywhere close. Wanted to scream at him to just end it and not prolong the boy's torture, but, of course, she couldn't, not with her sisters' lives on the line. Without even acknowledging her or the Archbishop, he ducked back inside and they had no choice but to follow him.

"Would you like me to show you around some more?" he asked without looking back, hefting Percy roughly in order to adjust his position. The demigod didn't complain.

"Certainly," the Archbishop replied politely, keeping a close eye on his tail as they re-entered the hallways that were lined with heirlooms and the like. Percy's head was resting on Polybotes's shoulder, and Kathy's hands shook as she saw the deadness in his eyes. There was a small light, a sign that he wasn't completely gone, but that light was slowly but surely being smothered. He regarded Kathy for a moment with the look of someone who would've been curious had curiosity not been beaten out of them long ago, but soon closed his eyes. With the muzzle, he looked like one of those abused and starving dogs from the Sarah Mclachlan commercials. She averted her gaze.

-Ω-

"Now that we've covered the terms of the nereid's babysitting, now I get to discuss the tour with you, my lord," Polybotes announced as they sat at the dinner table, inclining his head respectfully towards the Archbishop. Piles and piles of food were heaped onto the table, and Kathy hated the fact that she was seated directly on Polybotes's right side, in perfect view of Percy on the ground next to him. The Archbishop sat at the other head of the table. While they discussed petty things, Polybotes purposefully mounded food onto his plate and cast amused glances back at Percy, who was visibly salivating as he watched. Kathy tried to ignore him, tried to focus on the incredibly boring talk that was literally about the weather, but her gaze was always drawn back to him.

Polybotes placed a water bowl down and the demigod eagerly plunged his face into it, the bowl just deep enough to make sure that the muzzle didn't keep his mouth above the water, though once he drank down a certain portion of it, he proved unable to get the last of it out. He seemed heartbroken and hunched a little, but that was nothing compared to what happened when Polybotes actually had the audacity to fill a plate for him. He set down a meal piled with mashed potatoes, roasted chicken breast, peas, and other delectable things down in front of the demigod, who could only stare at it dejectedly. Kathy lost her appetite as Percy let out a dry sob as he stared at the food in front of him that he could not eat.

"Hush," Polybotes scolded and nudged the demigod with his foot. Percy fell silent, but tears still streamed down his face. Kathy managed to concentrate on moving her food around her plate, and the fact that Polybotes and the Archbishop had switched their conversation to the upcoming rally. They were traveling all over the world to assemble monsters, for what, Kathy didn't know, and they left that detail neatly out of their talk as they shoveled enough food into their mouths to feed a herd of elephants. It was pretty interesting chat, but that's when Percy began to whimper. It started softly, almost unnoticeable, but then rose in volume until he was mewling pitifully. Polybotes stopped talking mid-sentence and actually _kicked_ Percy, who was sent sprawling. He snarled, "Percy, I swear if you don't shut up I'll whip you like a rented mule."

Percy wept silently for the rest of the dinner.

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Sorry for not updating, if you read the last author's note I was away on vacation. Hope you liked this chapter, but it made me horribly depressed writing it.**

 **Disclaimer: The characters are Rick's, the plot it Christmascookie26's**


	5. Chapter 5

Poseidon was losing his mind. The insolent demigods he'd selected for the quest had refused to keep him updated on what their plans were to free Percy from Polybotes's clutches, and the di Angelo kid had explicitly told the sea god that even if they had any leads, which they didn't, they wouldn't tell him. It was nothing personal, it's just that they worked better without the gods interfering and putting their two cents in. That had made Poseidon's blood boil, but he'd refrained from turning the boy into a naked mole rat; partly because he was a good guy but mostly because his brother Hades scared him shitless and would bring Hell down upon the sea god if he laid a finger on his son.

He'd tried to take things into his own hands, had sent search parties into the Sea of Monsters that consisted of as many mermen as he'd dared, but the search parties failed to report back to him by the end of the fifth day. Triton had tried to be optimistic, saying that they'd caught on to something and they were just too busy, or that the connection had just severed because of the godlessness of the Sea of Monsters, but they both knew better than that. Whether they'd fallen to the many ancient beasts of the deep that lurked in those waters or they'd perished at Oceanus's hand, they were as good as dead, and t haunted Poseidon constantly.

He tried not to care.

Amphitrite had suggested this when he'd gone without sleep for a week straight, desperately trying anything he could rescue his son, and had managed to talk him into taking a step back for a while. He was a god and would never intercept something that was occurring in the mortal world; it simply wasn't his business until the demigods called for his aid in defeating Polybotes. He'd managed eons with a laissez-faire, hands-off approach to life, so why stop now? He'd listened to her advice and had managed to keep his mind off the whole situation for about three days tops. Those three days were jam-packed with Amphitrite trying to entertain him by throwing lavish parties, none of which completely eradicated the nagging at the back of his mind that told him that his only mortal son deserved better, and Triton bored him nearly to death at an endless stream of battle councils that discussed how they could possibly take down Oceanus in his new, more powerful form. None of their ideas could possibly manage to accomplish the task.

Now he was back to obsessing over Percy's well-being like the mother hen that he was. Triton was growing cross with him, his short, clipped words filled with a dark jealousy that was directed at Percy; Poseidon, admittedly, payed much more attention to his demigod son than he did to his immortal one, and the sea god felt guilty about the fact that he had no regrets about his decision to dedicate more of his time to Percy than to Triton. Triton could fend for himself. Triton didn't need to worry about dying of the most mundane things. Triton made good decisions and had Amphitrite's level-headedness, whilst Percy had, sadly, inherited Poseidon's recklessness. Most importantly, Triton wasn't in immediate danger.

Poseidon had rarely used his study before now, but he'd designed it for optimum focus, since he knew that if he ever decided to go in there the circumstances were dire. He'd used it during the Titan and the Giant war, and now he was using it again. This was the most activity that the study had seen in millennia. It was unique in the fact that it wasn't filled with water. The rest of the palace was under the sea, and therefore everyone could go everywhere. Not Poseidon's study. No, the sea god wanted to make sure that nobody could snoop around amongst his private things, not even Triton and Amphitrite (especially Triton and Amphitrite), on top of the fact that many of the items he stowed in here were made of paper and would be ruined if the place was filled with water.

Poseidon stepped into the study, moving to the opposite side of the threshold as the magic barrier between the ocean and the room shimmered to life. He watched the water shift and roil like a liquid wall, and quickly shut the door behind him to shield from prying eyes. He looked around a squared his shoulders, sighing deeply. This place did not have good memories infused within it. It was windowless, and along the walls were hundreds of thousands of maps and battle diagrams and drawings and blueprints, all neatly tacked up on top of one another. There was the yellowed parchment from the first Titan war ever and the crisp paper of the newest Giant war, all of them neatly aligned and categorized in countless different ways. The domed ceiling was infused with shells, and shined like abalone, not unlike Percy's cabin back at Camp Half-Blood, and the floor was made of crisp hard wood that had held up surprisingly well over the centuries.

"Back again," Poseidon murmured to the room, and the air seemed to come to life, buzzing with energy. "Did you miss me, Aristotle?" The raven in question suddenly appeared, fluffing up his feathers from the perch that Poseidon had constructed himself. The black bird's eyes glittered with intelligence, and the god was well aware of the fact that he wasn't so much as controlling the raven but rather being allowed to command it. Aristotle had been a gift from his brother, Hades, and was a sign of their alliance after the second Titan war. Zeus had received a bouquet of Persephone's flowers that could sing, which Poseidon thought was exceptionally less awesome than a teleporting bird who you could talk through and could talk back to you.

"Not in the slightest," the bird croaked, his voice raspy but quite attractive to say the least. "Have you come any closer to discovering Percy's location?"

"No closer than usual," Poseidon sighed, collapsing back into the comfy swivel chair that was positioned by the huge desk jam-packed with an assortment of papers and files. He noted the thin film of dust that was covering everything and made quick work of the cleanup, every single surface shining and polished with a snap of his fingers. "He's still as out of reach as he was yesterday."

"The demigods have noted the fact that I am reporting back to you, and have begun scheduling meetings without me. I'm not connected to them enough to teleport to their location, and it has become quite a nuisance," Aristotle replied, preening his wing a little and cocking his head. "Why are demigods so difficult?"

"Beats me," Poseidon groaned, rubbing his face. "But can you just…stay here and keep me company? I need to do a little research on serpentine titans."

-Ω-

It wasn't like Percy _wanted_ to be around Kathy. In fact, she really wasn't high on his list of people that he wanted to be in the company of, but she was much better than the alternative, which was being in the company of the guards. Guards who had family or friends that Percy had killed and held a grudge against the son of Poseidon in one way or another. Guards who threatened to beat him to death if he so much as stepped out of Polybotes's sight, claiming that it was worth the repercussions. Guards who'd slipped into his cell one night after one of his and Polybotes's "sessions" and nearly strangled him before a loyalist managed to get the giant back down to the cell block.

That was why Percy kept close to Kathy, trailing behind her like a shadow. She, unknowingly, was the only barrier between him and the guards, whose gazes were hungry and burned into his back whenever they passed. The scariest moments were when she went to the bathroom, and he practically clung to the door and eyed the guards warily while she did her business. It was even worse when he himself had to go to the bathroom and Kathy didn't go with him or wait for him to be finished, and he always expected the guards to pounce on him whenever he opened the door.

As of that moment, Percy was sunning himself in a patch of sunlight that was cast by the arching windows in the main living room, which, to be quite frank, was grander than some of the things he'd seen when he visited Olympus. The chairs and the couches were all upholstered and claw-footed, and the carpet that lay in between them was, indeed fluffy. It looked so much better than the hard wooden floor, and he yearned for a time when he could go on furniture that wasn't his dog bed in Polybotes's room, which had been moved temporarily to the guest room for the duration of Kathy's stay. Those thoughts wouldn't help him, though. Aching for the past would only make the present all the more bitter, and he quickly shoved down the memories of his friends that threatened to resurface.

There was a large bookshelf that took up the wall opposite the windows, crammed full of old texts whose titles, even in Greek, didn't sound all that interesting. It was mostly about geography and the history of the world and lore about different cultures, and nothing bored Percy more than learning and reading combined. Sure, he liked reading when he himself chose the book and it was filled with action-packed adventure, but when it came to these types of books he would rather jump off a bridge than read them. It saddened him that there was no bridge available to jump off of, otherwise he would've thrown himself over the side long ago to end his suffering, and it would've been incredibly convenient if he could just kill himself and be done with it. Done with all of it.

From the ceiling, a chandelier dangled, and hanging from the brass frame that held the candles were dozens of tiny, teardrop-shaped pieces of glass that tinkled softly whenever a wind spirit circulated slowly around the room. Percy noted that Kathy shifted uncomfortably whenever that happened. There were huge, leafy potted plants and an awesome, free-standing globe that would've been interesting if Percy had been allowed to touch it, as well as little trinkets and baubles that were so mundane that one would think of this room belonging to an old rich man rather than a man-eating giant who kept a teenaged boy as his dog. And rightfully so. Percy was a stupid, useless dog.

The room itself was about one hundred square feet in all, embellished with architectural genius that would make the hosts on those home decorating shows make a run for their money, and a huge arch led to the hallway on the wall adjacent to the windows, while the opposite side had an arch leading to the kitchen area that had the door to his pen. He remembered the unadulterated suffering that he'd gone through in that pen. One specific moment remained prominent in his mind:

 _He heard the whistle. Polybotes wanted him to get up, and judging from the extra pairs of footsteps Percy heard, the giant wanted the demigod to entertain some guests for him. What a silly thought that was. The getting up part, not the entertainment, though he didn't think he had enough energy to do either. He was so thirsty. So hungry. So weak. So lonely._

Please don't take me inside, _Percy pleaded despite the fact that Polybotes could not hear his thoughts,_ I want to see the sky.

 _He forced his arms to move and used up the last of his energy to drag himself into a sitting position as he watched the blurry form of Polybotes approach him, the weight of the chain a heavy burden on his neck. The cage of the muzzle lingered at the bottom of his vision._

Please, _he begged with his eyes._ Don't take me inside. I want to touch the grass.

 _Polybotes offered his foot, which Percy kissed with the best of his ability, the muzzle thuking off of the giant's scales._

Please don't take me inside, _Percy sobbed._ I want to see the trees.

 _Polybotes unlooped the chain from around Percy's neck, patting his head and murmuring a greeting to him, which he didn't reply to since he hadn't been told that he could._

Please don't take me inside, _Percy wailed, feeling tears welling up._ I want to bask in the sunlight.

 _Polybotes scooped him up and held him in his arms, and Percy, hating himself, took comfort in having the giant's arms around him, supporting him and soothing him despite the fact that Percy didn't deserve it._

Please don't take me inside, _Percy cried._ I want to feel the breeze.

 _Polybotes brought Percy over, opening the door and letting the cool, air-conditioned, stale, confining air seep out._

Don't take me inside. I don't want to die inside, _Percy's pleas had puttered out to whimpers, even if they were just inside of his head. His stomach was screaming and empty, and he could almost feel himself slipping away._ I want to die outside. Don't take me inside. I want to die outside with the sky and the grass and the trees and the sunlight and the breeze. It makes me feel like I'm somewhere else. Not inside. Anywhere but inside.

Please, please, please, please, please…

 _Polybotes stepped across the threshold, and as soon as his guests had followed, he shut the door behind him._

He let out a broken sob, turning away when he saw Kathy look up in alarm from out of the corner of his eye. She was tucked into one of the couches, reading one of the old books seeming pretty comfortable, and he refused to even remotely look at her, offering the nereid his back. He was too sick with jealousy, too bitter with hate and sorrow. He felt the nature spirit's gaze burning holes into him, but she didn't comment, didn't demand that Percy explain why he was upset, and for that the son of the sea god was grateful. She just left him in peace with his sunlight, which felt good on his skin. They sat like that for a while, and on occasion he could sense Kathy looking up to check on him, her expression unreadable, and he knew that she felt guilty that she was on the furniture while he had to settle for the wooden floor. But he didn't want her pity.

Okay, that was a lie.

Her pity is what got him extra food rations and small scraps slipped to him from under the table with a mutter of, "He feeds you his food all the time, why shouldn't I?" But her pity was also to be feared. Who's to say that he'd get too comfortable with her and accidentally look her in the eye? Or maybe he'd die of shock when Polybotes came back and he wasn't offered the same kindness. It wasn't right to feel pity for him. He was the one in the wrong. He was the one who'd taken so long to break. Had he just submit to Polybotes's rule, life would've been a whole lot easier. He could've been the general of the giant's armies, revered and feared, but no. He was a dog now. Just a stupid dog.

His stomach growled loudly, still expecting food to be at hand, and he scolded it internally. Dogs didn't eat snacks. They ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner without complaint or expectation to be fed in between, but his stomach still mewled pitifully and made him toss and turn from his spot on the floor. Thankfully, the muzzle had been removed after dinner the night that Polybotes had left, and Percy had murmured apologies into the giant's feet until his throat was raw and tears were streaming down his face. What was added, however, were two metal fetters around his wrists that were inscribed with runes that prevented him from using his powers. When Polybotes was around, Percy had no chance of overcoming him so he really had no reason to even try to use his powers, but when it was just Kathy and the weak guards, he'd easily be able to beat them all and escape just by making the piping explode.

"Perhaps we should go back to the room," Kathy announced, and it took Percy moment to realize that the nereid was talking to him. It had been a long time since anyone had spoken to him with a tone that suggested that he was an equal, on top of the fact that she made it seem like it was Percy's choice if he wanted to go or not. "That way you can lie down on your bed. It's better than the floor, right?" Percy really didn't mind being on the floor; it was a small price to pay compared to others. At least he didn't have to crawl around on all fours, making him more of a dog than he already was, and Polybotes had threatened many times to break both his knees so he had to drag himself around.

He nodded and hauled himself to his feet with difficulty, the hunger making him tired, but the promises of a bed helped him persevere; it would be so much better on his aching muscles, and he allowed Kathy to lead the way as they plodded through the grandness that was Polybotes's palace. Guards gave him withering looks as they passed, and he made himself as small as possible, trying not to be a target as he hunched his shoulders and kept his gaze on the backs of Kathy's bare feet. The bedrooms were on the upper floors, so they had to scale one of the twin staircases leading up to them, and Percy took time to marvel at all the tiny figures embellished onto the railing. Granted, the figures were killing one another, but it was still incredible craftsmanship.

The hallway before hem held only bedrooms. Polybotes's was the master bedroom, lying at the end of the hall. It compared to a decent-sized studio apartment, and it gave Percy plenty of wandering room if he woke up during the night and couldn't get to sleep. Granted, he could never really get to sleep with Polybotes's bulldozer snoring, but pretending to get some rest was better than not getting any rest at all. Kathy's bedroom was different, though. It was still by no standards small, and it had its own bathroom like every other room did, but it was considerably more homey than Polybotes's room.

The giant's bedroom was strict and to the point: I sleep in this room and nothing else. His only real personal touch was the fact that the bed was steel-enforced, since when Polybotes scaled himself down he still had the weight of a two-story-tall being. Granted, his "scaled down" form was about seven feet tall. In Kathy's room, however, she'd conjured up her favorite trinkets to look at during her two week stay here at the palace, and Percy had never felt more at home. It was mostly a bad thing, really, because the photographs that the nereid had hung up all over, usually depicting her and two other nature spirits that must've been her sisters, made him cry whenever he looked at them, yearning for his family and friends back in New York.

He was wiping away tears at that moment as he crumbled to the ground and crawled into his surprisingly comfortable dog bed. At first, he'd had a huge aversion towards it. Dog beds were gross. They were covered in hair and slobber and were sometime torn to bits, and Percy certainly didn't want to sleep in one. Polybotes had shrugged when Percy balked and had simply stated that Percy was torturing himself by lying on the ground, and how it was rude to take kindness for granted. Percy had succumbed after staring at the bed dejectedly for a half hour, and had praised the Lord above that it was new and unused by the animals that it was intended for. It was made for big Great Danes, which was why Percy fit just fine in it, though he did long for a pillow and some blankets once in a while just for the mere comfort of them. It was incredibly soft, though, and he slept like a baby whenever he managed to tune out Polybotes's snoring. Kathy, however, didn't snore, and over the past four days that the nereid had inhabited the palace, Percy had had to get used to being able to fall asleep without a sound like a chainsaw keeping him awake. He was going to be so spoiled by the time Polybotes came back.

"Why don't you take a nap?" Kathy suggested as she propped herself up on pillows with her book in hand. "I'll wake you up when it's dinner time, kay?"

Percy didn't reply, for he was already fast asleep. Before he completely drifted off, Kathy noted aloud how he drooled. No wonder why he had nightmares.

-Ω-

 _"_ _Percy, baby, are you sure you don't want to give me answers pertaining to the location of Camp Half-Blood?" Polybotes crooned to the mangled lump that was Perseus Jackson huddled in the corner. "You've already sung your little song about your friends' worst fears, and I have to admit that your screams were wonderful."_

 _"_ _Leave me alone," Percy whimpered, curling more tightly in on himself. He was trembling all over, his body aching from phantom pains as if recalling the whip and the jumper cables. It was only his fourth day here and his suffering was unparalleled to any suffering he'd ever endured before. He was hungry and cold and tired, for the only times he was ever allowed to sleep was when he was tortured into unconsciousness, and his mind was whirling this way and that, cooking up all new horrors that Polybotes may or may not inflict upon him. From thumbscrews to torture racks, Percy feared that the giant may delve into his thoughts and actually use these techniques._

 _"_ _Now, now, Percy," Polybotes tutted, as if scolding an unruly child. "I have never been to Camp Half-Blood, and I'd like some directions since it's warded against giants now." Percy didn't respond, but he did tremble a little harder. "If you cooperate, I'll let you have a three course dinner of your choosing. How about that?" Percy's mouth was watering at the thought of eating blue pancakes and pizza and everything else under the sun, but he couldn't. He was too loyal. He couldn't give his friends away. Polybotes growled low in his throat, and Percy wanted to disappear as he heard the giant's heavy footsteps coming towards him._

 _"_ _You need to learn some respect, boy," the anti-Poseidon snarled. "You bring this upon yourself. Every. Single. Time. This is your fault that I'm doing this, completely and entirely. I offer a different route and yet you always choose the hard way, so now you are forcing me to act."_

 _"_ _I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Percy sobbed into his knees as he heard something being drawn from Polybotes's belt._

 _"_ _I know you're sorry," Polybotes said softly, "But sometimes sorry isn't good enough."_

 _When the first blows from the club came, Percy allowed himself to scream. Over and over and over again, Polybotes struck him, not hard enough to break bones but just enough that it was agony, and the demigod thought he was going to die. He struggled at first, tried desperately to crawl away as his poor, beaten body was bludgeoned repeatedly, but Polybotes was always on top of him. He occasionally stopped and asked Percy to answer his question, and each and every time Percy refused. So the suffering continued._

 _It seemed to go on for hours and hours, and eventually Percy slumped to the ground and just took it. He suffered and suffered, and was so far gone that the pain from the club diminished almost entirely. His mind tucked itself away into a corner where Polybotes could not go, where he had no control over Percy, and in doing so Percy withdrew from his body until the pain vanished altogether. He welcomed his impending death with open arms, feeling the life flicker within him and become ever so dimmer, and felt an intriguing and strange sense of numbness. He was only partially aware of the fact that he was being beaten. He no longer felt the pain, but distantly he could hear the club making contact with his body over and over again and could feel the way he jerked and shuddered with every blow, how his bones rattled with every hit. He was drifting, though, and his own body seemed so far away…_

 _And all at once it stopped._

 _Percy was too exhausted to register the water flowing through the cell and soothing all of his injuries, but he certainly was surprised when large fingers carded through his hair and a rough voice praised him for how well he'd done. He leaned into it, desperate for something that was non-pain, and felt a wave of comfort wash over him at the gentle touches. It was the last thing he felt before he went unconscious._

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Writing this is making me so sad why did I adopt this story I didn't mean to make it this sad wtf is wrong with me. Kudos to** ** _The Call of the Wild_** **by Jack London for giving me descriptions on how it's like to be almost beaten to death! Yay!**

 **Disclaimer: The characters are Rick Riordan's, the plot is Christmascookie26's**


	6. Chapter 6

"Percy, I'm home!" an achingly familiar voice boomed. Percy froze, his eyes trained on the hallway where he heard the heavy footsteps of his master, and he flinched whenever the giant's claws scraped on the ground. However, despite that incredibly annoying voice at the back of his mind that screamed that he should run and hide, he stayed in his spot curled on the floor and pretended to be asleep. That way, he would have an excuse for not greeting Polybotes at the door. Kathy, whom he'd come to grudgingly appreciate, seemed to catch on and, when the giant burst into the main living room, she hushed him.

"He's sleeping," she whispered, and Percy heard the rustle of pages as she lowered her book onto the coffee table. No one spoke as the giant slowly lowered himself onto the couch (which Percy felt bad for, since even though Polybotes reverted to his smaller form inside the house, he was still incredibly heavy), and the demigod felt the prickling sensation of all eyes on him as he tried his best to feign sleep. Kathy, however, broke the silence by asking softly, "How was your trip?"

"It went incredibly well. The Archbishop had a little errand to run before he could come here, and by the amount of soldiers we recruited, we should be able to storm Camp Half-Blood in no time," Polybotes announced, seeming smug, and Percy shuddered when he realized that _he_ was the one who'd given the giant directions to the demigod refuge in the first place. Guilt clawed at his heart, and it was incredibly difficult to try to remain asleep when a litany of: _You're so stupid. What a fucking stupid dog you are,_ blared inside of his head, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't believe it. Hell, he believed it like he believed the sky was blue.

They engaged in mindless, quiet chat for a few moments before Polybotes prompted, "Was Percy good?" The demigod wondered if Kathy would turn on him in that moment, say that he'd been awful just so Polybotes would punish him, and fear constricted his chest and made it difficult to breathe. He wondered what Polybotes would do to him if he got a bad report back from Kathy. Would cut out Percy's eyeballs and unleash him into an unfamiliar part of the palace just so he could watch the demigod flounder about in his terror? Would he club Percy nearly to death and then dump him in the middle of the woods to be tortured by basilisks? The possibilities were nearly endless.

"Percy was an angel," Kathy replied, and Percy could finally exhale as he heard the smile in the nereid's voice. "I don't understand why you even had those punishments arranged. Clearly you don't have to use them often."

"They were just in case," Polybotes responded, and the demigod could hear him preening, "I knew that Percy would be on his best behavior." The giant sounded somewhat…proud? Percy basked in the praise and hated himself for doing so, but who was he kidding? He wasn't going to be getting out of here anytime soon, so he might as well feel good for pleasing the one being he was allowed to talk to on occasion. "You know, on the topic of Percy I might as well wake him up. He isn't dead, is he? You didn't kill him while I was gone?" The two of them shared a laugh at that, but Percy could sense that Kathy's chuckle was a bit forced. He waited a few seconds, pretending to be deep in the dream world as Polybotes shook him and finally hauled himself into a sitting position, blinking up at Polybotes blearily but careful not to look him in the eye.

"I'm back, buddy," the giant chuckled and ruffled his hair, and Percy leaned into the gentle, non-pain touch. He stretched, popping a few of his joints, and yawned widely, though he still didn't feel the need to get up. "That floor must be murder on your muscles. Maybe I should get you another bed for down here," Polybotes mused as he retook his seat, and Percy nodded vigorously at the giant's feet. "Seems to agree with me. Jacobsen?" An armor-clad cyclops hustled over, standing at attention. "Can you get another bed for Percy? Exactly like the one he has in my room."

"Yes, sir!" Jacobsen announced and marched off to fulfill the task. His voice hadn't portrayed any of his emotions, and it made Percy wonder if the cyclops was a Polybotes loyalist or if he cared more about killing Percy than he did for his own well-being. Perhaps he'd get Percy a bed that had noxious fumes infused into it, and the demigod would die overnight from inhaling them. Suddenly, with a jolt, Percy realized that he would be perfectly okay with that. Actually, he wished that was the case, and his longing for death frightened him.

"Percy!" Polybotes boomed, and the demigod realized that he was staring off into space. He quickly snapped his focus towards the giant, who chuckled. "Zoning out there, buddy?" Percy nodded sheepishly and swallowed hard, settling back down onto the floor with a huff. The weight of his situation suddenly crashed down upon him, and it felt all too much like when he'd held up the sky, only this burden wasn't physical. It was mental. He could feel his head cracking under the pressure of it, and he whimpered softly into the ground as tears began to fill his eyes. He was going to spend the rest of his miserable life here. He was going to be a stupid dog until he reached Elysium, and even then Polybotes would still have an imprint on him. What if he was scared of going on the furniture? What if he never looked anyone in the eye again?

He was never going to see Annabeth again. The weight of it was astronomical, and he wept silently and prayed that neither Kathy nor Polybotes noticed. He'd never see his beautiful, beloved Annabeth. Would never get to go down on one knee before her. He'd never be able to have a few kids and grow old with her. He'd never be able to grow old with any of his friends. Leo, Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Reyna, Nico, Will, and everyone else were lost to him. Because when they eventually gave up looking for him (Percy liked to think that wouldn't be the case, but there was going to be a time when they deemed him dead), he would be here rotting in this palace for the rest of his days. Perhaps Annabeth would find another man, and would have kids with him. Kids that should've been Percy's. He didn't have any chance of siring any children unless one of Polybotes's buds also had a demigod and Polybotes wanted to breed the two of them like prized cattle. He was just a dumb dog. A dumb, stupid dog. He continued to lie there and cry long after Polybotes and Kathy had left.

-Ω-

Polybotes was so happy with Kathy's work in babysitting Percy that he eventually bought her servitude off of the Archbishop. As a result, Kathy got to see the demigod's slow mental deterioration firsthand. The giant was marginally kinder to Kathy than the Archbishop had been, but he was much more brutal with Percy than Kathy would ever dream of. He hung the boy from the ceiling by his wrists for two days when he politely asked for more food, and he'd never spoken another word afterward. When he'd looked Polybotes in the eye for a fraction of a second, he was whipped nearly to death and then chained to a stone pedestal outside so he could fry in the sun. Luckily, there was no bug life on the island, because otherwise he would've been swarming with mosquitos. It was no surprise when the demigod began to crumble under the pressure, and his descent into insanity was so awful that even Polybotes himself began to worry for his prized pet.

It all started when Percy stopped eating.

Polybotes would heap a plate full of delectable food and set it down on the floor, but Percy would just stare at it with dead eyes and an impassive expression. It wasn't because he was simply refusing to eat, it was because he didn't see the need to do it. If Polybotes fed him he would eat whatever was given to him, but he didn't seem to be keen on doing it himself. He became lethargic and most of his time was spent sleeping or lying down, and he never seemed to be seeing anything. His gaze was always distant, always empty, and every day he became worse and worse.

It was to the point where Polybotes actually allowed him on the furniture. As a sort of last hurrah, really, because even though he wasn't actively trying to kill himself, his intentions were quite clear:

 _It's not worth it anymore._

Polybotes, surprisingly, didn't beat Percy until he ate, didn't force the boy to interact, he just provided the kindest environment for the demigod and hopefully he would perk up a bit. It was surprising to see such gentleness coming from the giant, but in the back of her mind Kathy knew that he referred to Percy as a pet, and that he was only worried because it had taken so long to break him in.

"C'mon Percy!" Polybotes announced jovially, tossing the ball yet another time. "Stand up and we'll have a little catch together!" It was blisteringly hot, and Kathy was pretty sure that this island was located incredibly close to the equator as it could get in the Sea of Monsters, because the heat never seemed to ebb and there seemed to be no sign of changing seasons, which Kathy had to admit that she missed dearly.

Percy, despite Polybotes's encouragements, stared out into the distance, his eyes not really seeing. The sea green irises that had once held that spark of life to them were dull, and Kathy, in an attempt to try and console, ran her fingers through his hair from her spot on his left side. The demigod was lying in the grass, which was holding up surprisingly well despite the climate, and sweat was dripping off of him in rivulets as he just lay there and baked in the sun. Polybotes had stripped him down to his boxers to keep him cool, and the water bowl had been brought out, but of course the demigod didn't even look at it, and Polybotes kept having to pour water down his throat to keep him hydrated. Kathy tried not to look at how skinny he was. He wasn't terribly thin. In fact, with clothes on he could be seen as lithe, but the faint outline of his ribs against his skin said otherwise. This was a body that was used to getting many meals over the course of the day, and eventually it would adjust and fill out to the new diet, but it was still hard to look at, knowing that food was at hand but Polybotes simply wouldn't give it to him.

The giant sighed and raised his hand, and the ball, which had landed across the pen, flew back into his hand. "You sure you don't want to join in? It's really fun," Polybotes didn't really sound all that enthusiastic about it, but Kathy heard that underlying note of desperation in his voice. He wanted Percy to get up and go play catch, and as of that moment the boy looked like a corpse lying on the ground. Barely breathing at all. Never moving except the rise and fall of his chest and the flutter of his eyelids.

"He'll come around," Kathy murmured, rubbing soothing circles in between Percy's shoulder blades. Softer, she added, "Hopefully." Polybotes frowned at this and continued to absent-mindedly play catch with himself, despite the fact that his main focus seemed to be on Percy. Kathy could see the wheels turning in his head by the way his eyes twitched and his brow furrowed, and she knew that, whatever he was thinking, it wasn't good.

"Perhaps we should all go inside," he announced finally after a few minutes of terse silence. He looked to Percy as if the demigod would agree, but his response was predictable. He just stared off into space. "Maybe cooler air would be better for all of us." Without further ado, he scooped up the prostrate demigod and marched inside, leaving Kathy to do nothing but follow in suit. "Let's just watch TV, how about that?"

"Sounds good," Kathy replied, and tucked herself into the couch, curling her legs under her. It was cool to have legs and all, but Kathy yearned for her tail and for the sea, and she picked at the bracelets on her wrists nervously. Percy's power-restricting fetters still gleamed around his wrists, and Kathy wondered why Polybotes had bothered to even leave them on after his return; the boy was too weak to use his powers. Too weak to do much of anything. Polybotes placed Percy on the couch next to him and turned on the TV, lazily flipping through the channels until he stopped on a particularly interesting-looking cooking show that featured two scantily clad empousai.

Kathy averted her gaze from the bouncing bounty of breasts spilling from the monsters' crop tops and tried to rest her eyes a bit, and it was particularly peaceful for about a half-hour before Polybotes announced, "I thinking of putting Percy down." Kathy almost threw up all over herself. Percy, however, remained impassive, not even reacting to the announcement that he may or may not be euthanized.

"W-w-what?" Kathy stammered. She should've been immediately on board with the decision; Percy was suffering too greatly and had every right to be put down in order to end his prolonged torture, but something in Kathy screamed that it was wrong. That it wasn't time.

"You heard me. I'm thinking of putting Percy out to pasture," Polybotes sighed, carding his fingers through Percy's hair. "He's useless, and it's all my fault. He was meant to be a loyal dog; a poor, manipulated soul who would follow me into the depths of hell, but I pushed him too far. Beat him too much. Now he's just," he cast a sour look down at Percy's limp form, "broken."

"But you have to consider the fact that we haven't given him much professional rehabilitation. Maybe we should try that," Kathy suggested, trying for a smile but instead getting a grimace. "He's still young, can still become strong. Hell, he's Poseidon's only son! It would be a shame to waste him."

"I agree wholeheartedly," Polybotes responded with a nod of acknowledgement, "But the boy's no use. He just eats food and sits there. I could string him up and use him as a punching bag, but I like when they scream." Kathy wanted to rip him a new one, wanted to tear him limb from limb as she told him of all of his sins, but she simply swallowed hard and nodded. "I'll give him a few days to perk up but after that…" Polybotes mimed slitting his own throat.

"I understand," Kathy whispered faintly.

That night, after she checked, double-checked, and triple-checked to make sure that she wasn't being monitored in any way, shape or form, she sent an iris message to Poseidon…

-Ω-

Jason's rude wake-up call just so happened to be several tons of ice cold water crashing down upon him, interrupting a very nice dream he'd been having of a starlit dinner with Piper. He coughed and spluttered, rolling out of bed and taking the sheets with him as water continued to blast down in a rampant deluge, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon. The torrent swept Jason off of his feet the first time he tried to stand, but eventually he managed to haul himself up and grab his glasses before charging out of the Zeus cabin like nobody's business. Hell, even hippie Zeus looked worried as water, saltwater judging by the taste and the way it stung Jason's eyes and nose, surged outwards. Judging by the startled cries erupting from the other cabins, his fellow campers were experiencing the same problem, and almost in unison all the doors to the cabins were flung open as a stream of demigods charged out, with torrents of water hot on their heels. Hell, even the Hypnos kids finally seemed to be awake, and Jason caught sight of Clovis stumbling along his brothers and sisters clutching his pillow like it was a lifeline.

It had to be like, two a.m., and the stars glared down coldly as the demigods swarmed together and all made a beeline for Half-Blood Hill, which was higher ground and would hopefully be high enough to evade the sudden flood. Water pipes began exploding, and the entire bathroom was shot into the air by the jets of water erupting from the faucets and toilets. Jason caught a glimpse of the side of Piper's face before she was consumed by the crowd, and he tried not to get trampled by the horde of panicked campers as he pushed and shoved his way towards her. "Piper!" he cried. "Pipes!" The mob didn't slow down for him to meet up with his girlfriend though, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the flood rushing towards them. If he hadn't been fully awake before, he surely was now, and he was acutely aware that he was wearing nothing but a pair of superman boxers that Percy, it hurt to think his name, had given to him for his birthday.

"What the fuck is going on?!" Leo was suddenly beside him, looking quite bedraggled in yesterday's oil and dirt-stained clothes, which he must've fallen asleep in, and Jason felt relieved to have his friend's reassuring presence beside him. "Who angered Poseidon?!"

"Us," Jason panted as he ran, "We still haven't found Percy yet."

"Dude I'm already freaking out, don't make me depressed, too," Leo grouched, his eyes narrowing. Jason could only shrug apologetically, because saying anything else would mean revealing just how much Percy was missed. He could tell that the son of Hephaestus felt the same way.

"Get moving!" a rough voice rose above the babble of the crowd, and Jason looked up. At first he saw nothing but the star-spangled sky, but then he saw a dark smudge that eventually sharpened to form the outline of Aristotle. God, how Jason hated that bird. He didn't even seem slightly worried that the camp had been flooded. Perhaps he'd been the cause of it, telling Poseidon that the demigods were slacking on their duties when it came to the search for Percy.

Finally, after a very tiresome descent, the entirety of the camp was crammed onto Half-Blood Hill. Peleus was huffing indignantly, wrapping his scaly body around the bough as he eyed all the campers warily. His reptilian gaze kept flicking from Aristotle's nearly invisible form to the Golden Fleece that glittered on the branch above where he was perched, and Jason couldn't believe that this tree had once been his sister. The demigods jabbered frantically as the water continued to rise, and it now flooded the entirety of the cabins and was emptying into the river, causing the banks to flood, and pretty soon the water would reach the hill.

And then, all of a sudden it stopped.

There was silence except for the nervous whispers and shifting of the campers and the crickets. And then the water began to recede. It hadn't even touched the Big House, and Chiron must've still been sound asleep within whatever bed is horsey form used. What did start to happen, though, was the leftover puddles began to condense and take the familiar form of a man and his trident. Poseidon's stern gaze raked over everyone, and Jason wished that he and Leo hadn't pushed their way to the front to see, because almost immediately the god's all-too familiar sea green eyes fell onto them.

"I want the demigods of the Great Prophecy to step forwards, please," said Aristotle in Poseidon's voice. The god's lips hadn't moved. "I have very important matters to discuss with you all. The flood was just something to get you all assembled without alerting Chiron." He heard the shuffling of campers moving out of the way and soon he had his arms full of Piper, who clung to him and whispered how she was so glad he was okay. Whispers that he returned in kind. Hazel, Frank, and Annabeth had also stepped forward, not to mention Nico, Will, and even Calypso.

"What news do you bring?" Annabeth called out, for the god was still standing a good distance away at the base of the hill.

"I have been given a set of coordinates to Percy's location by an unknown source, and even though I have no reason to believe it's not a lure and a trap, I still think that it's better than nothing," Poseidon announced, and everyone inhaled sharply. Percy's absence had been weighing everyone down heavily, and a lead on where he might be was a blessing from above. The only question was whether the message would lead them to a trap or not. "I want the demigods of the Great Prophecy to leave tomorrow after a night's rest."

"Like we'll be getting any rest after the stunt you pulled," Leo muttered under his breath, and Jason smothered his laugh with his hand.

"But what if it's a trap? What if we get captured too?" Frank wondered aloud. Poseidon's expression turned grim.

"Then you will all be lost," Poseidon stated. "No one on Heaven and Earth will be able to help you know. But I will have Aristotle guide you."

There was a heavy silence.

"We'll do it."


	7. Chapter 7

A grim silence settled over the Seven as storm clouds loomed ahead in an otherwise clear sky. It was a perfect seam, light blue clashing with murky grey, and the dark smudges that indicated Scylla and Charybdis were beginning to grow ever closer. Aristotle was perched at the prow, his eyes glittering and his feathers standing out like ink against the ocean, which was becoming progressively darker and frothier. Leo manned the steering and all that junk while the rest just stood by and worried like madmen.

Much to Will's anger and protestations, Nico had shadow-travelled them all to the upper keys of Florida so they wouldn't really have to travel far to get to the Sea of Monsters. With Piper's persuasion, they'd convinced a wealthy fisherman to forsake his rather large speedboat to them, and after Leo had made a few major adjustments to the engine, they'd set off at incredible speeds towards where Aristotle was directing them. Jason was getting incredibly seasick, and he leaned back in his seat, trying to take Leo's advice and focusing on a single point in the distance. It did little to calm his nerves or his stomach. He shouldn't be complaining, though, because Hazel had thrown up over the side twice now. Frank had assumed a mouse form to lighten the load, considering all of the armor, weapons, and people the boat was already carrying, and was attempting to console Hazel, though he wasn't having much luck.

"What are we going to do about Scylla and Charybdis?" Jason fretted, chewing his cuticles to the point where blood was dripping down his hands. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose despite the fact that they didn't need to be adjusted, trying to calm his breathing as to make sure he didn't hyperventilate.

"Go for Charybdis," Annabeth replied immediately, white-knuckling the railing as she gazed off into the distance. "Our boat should be strong enough to get through the whirlpool, what with all the adjustments Leo made, but we have no chance against Scylla."

"You sound like you've done this before," Frank squeaked, and Annabeth leveled him with a look that clearly stated that she most certainly had done this before. Nobody asked, the mood seeming too solemn for an action-packed adventure, especially one that would no doubt contain Percy. Percy had become He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, for whenever his name was spoken aloud someone burst into tears. That someone was usually Annabeth.

"Just a note," came a croaking voice, and everyone turned to see Aristotle, hunched on the back of Leo's seat. He certainly hadn't flown there, considering the terrible wind, and he would've most certainly been noticed if he'd walked. He'd just…appeared. That bird freaked Jason out. "Your demigod friend may not be in the best of conditions if we do somehow manage to get past the guards and the giant."

"I understand," Annabeth hissed through clenched teeth.

"I'm simply preparing you," the raven retorted, fluffing his feathers up defensively. "He may cry in his joy at the sight of you. He may be a bit weary. He may balk. He may scream for Polybotes and fight you with everything in him. He may simply do nothing."

"Percy wouldn't break that easy," Leo insisted, his eyes never leaving the approaching monsters that marked the threshold between the mortal world and the supernatural. "He's super powerful and strong." Everyone nodded in agreement, but Aristotle shook his head.

"Ah yes but just a note that he's been with Polybotes for many weeks. Subjected to tortures you wouldn't imagine. It doesn't take long for a prisoner's torturer to constantly tell him he's a dog until the prisoner starts believing it," the raven scoffed. "Percy could be believing that everything is his fault, that Polybotes is right when he inflicts such agony upon him. People who are constantly suffering change. Drastically."

"What are we going to do if we take him back? He's not just going to…to perk up," Hazel murmured, her voice wavering, and Frank nuzzled her hand in attempt to comfort.

"He will be more broken than you could ever imagine," Aristotle warned. "Your children of Dionysus may not be enough. You may need the god himself. A strong-willed demigod is no match for a giant with a thirst for vengeance, infinite time, and infinite patience. He will have reduced Percy to a self-hating and most certainly suicidal being. Anything to make the pain stop." Annabeth's face was cloaked by her hair, but Jason could see the tears streaming down her face. Jason thought he was going to cry, too. It was going to take a few days for them to get through the Sea of Monsters, and by then it might be too late.

"We're approaching Charybdis," Leo announced, fear laced through his voice as he regarded the gaping maw of the monster who swallowed everything that stumbled into the clutches of the whirlpool that revolved around her. Her serrated teeth, looking like the dorsal fins of sharks, were clustering together as they neared the monster and were slowly caught in the pull of the whirlpool. Leo revved the engine, which sounded much more powerful than the normal boat engine should be, and shot through the water like a bullet, steering it like a champion and weaving through the teeth; he made well sure that he stayed as far into the outer reaches of the whirlpool as possible, since once they were caught into the stronger currents they would be past the point of no return. Annabeth seemed to be a bit squeamish as the boat was tossed this way and that, and Jason finally threw up that day's meals over the side.

His heart was thundering in his chest, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs as his eyes glued to the jaws of the monster, which were lined with needle-like teeth that didn't look pleasant to fall into. It was his first time in the Sea of Monsters, and from what he was experiencing now, it wasn't going to get much better. He gripped the sides of the boat tightly and prayed that Leo knew what he was doing.

-Ω-

For days, they traveled, following Aristotle's directions as their boat tore through the waves. The gasoline was enchanted to replenish itself, but that didn't make Jason any less fearful that suddenly their propeller was going to stop working and they'd be stranded in the middle of a sea crawling with terrible creatures. Their food supply could only last so long. Every sunset, Percy's time became a little shorter, and everyone was well aware of that as they watched the sun dip below the horizon. Needless to say, the bathroom situation was a little awkward; peeing was fine, even amongst the ladies, but with people too scared to jump into the water and shit directly for fear of attracting monsters, they had to go in a bucket filled with water (dubbed "the dump") and then toss it into the water while everyone's back was respectfully turned. Even though the bucket had been specifically for these purposes and self-cleaned, the mere thought of what went on inside of it made Jason nauseous. It also felt weird to shit in the open with your friends standing only a few feet away.

They encountered many beasts. From a pod of mutant dolphins that spat acid to a group of sirens. They hadn't been prepared for that one, only having a few bits of wax that would've been useful to put in people's ears, so Piper had taken the wax and then charmspoken everyone out of jumping over the side and towards the sirens. She'd out-charmspoken Medea, she later told Hazel, Frank, and Annabeth, who hadn't known about this previously. She'd been closer and more powerful than the siren's songs and therefore had been able to keep them under control. Aristotle hadn't been affected by the sirens, being the freaky bird that he was.

It wasn't long before they started to become weary. They had to sleep in short shifts, and Leo rarely got to sleep at all, considering that he was the only one who could really drive the boat and he didn't trust anyone else to piolet it, considering he simply gave them the simple rundown of the controls before passing out. It was Jason's turn to man the boat while everyone crashed, save Frank who was around to defend while Jason drove. His eyes scanned the horizon warily as they delved deeper into the Sea of Monsters, and the sky seemed to be permanently overcast, the wind always biting and cold.

"We're close," Aristotle rasped, and Jason sat a little straighter in his seat. Aristotle hadn't said a word since they'd passed Charybdis, other than to give them directions like steering clear of Cetus's hunting grounds or if they'd veered off course. Now his head was cocked, his beady black eyes gleaming as they regarded Jason, and then the demigod looked behind the raven and realized why exactly Aristotle was informing them that they were near. There was a large island with a beach of white sand and land crowded with trees, as well as a glimpse of a huge stone brick fortress, but that wasn't what Jason zeroed in on; a huge, scaly body arched out of the water, the white scales dazzling and the spines seeming as sharp as razors, disappearing under the waves as soon as it had come. Jason remembered it all too well, and he pulled the boat to a halt.

"Oceanus," he breathed, and Frank went tense all over as he immediately began shaking the others awake. They grumbled and shifted from their seats, but were wide awake and alert when they saw the deathly pallor on their companions' faces. Annabeth began hyperventilating, her eyes wild as Hazel and Piper rubbed her back, both wearing equal expressions of concern, and Jason's heart jackhammered in his chest as his eyes remained glued to the spot where Oceanus had disappeared beneath the surface.

"What do we do?" Leo squeaked, rubbing the bleariness from his eyes and running his fingers through his already-messy hair. "It's a fucking titan what the everloving fuck are we going to do?"

"Perhaps you should cloak this vessel," Aristotle suggested, but this time it was Poseidon's voice that was coming out of his mouth. It was slightly comforting to know that the god was watching through Aristotle's eyes, listening and looking in on their adventures the entire time. "You _did_ install cloaking shields, did you not?" Leo was immediately up and staggering towards the wheel, practically shoving Jason out of the way as he began pressing all of these buttons and flipping all of these switches, which were a part of a console that was definitely more complicated than when the demigods had first gotten the boat. Immediately, the air around them shimmered, becoming distorted.

"Will this be enough?" Leo inquired, sweating bullets and watching the way the cloaking mechanism shifted and warped the light around them.

"Trust me, it will be." And with that, the boat sped off towards the island.

Jason didn't like the tone of Aristotle's voice, or the fact that he called out once, a harsh, grating croak that sent the hairs on the demigod's spine standing straight up. It sounded like the cry of the raven that sounded right before someone died, and Jason had a pit in his stomach and a voice in his head telling him that he and his friends were going to be the victims. They passed the spot that Oceanus had emerged from without any confrontation from the titan, and everyone let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in. Relief washed over Jason, his blood still surging, but something in the back of his mind nagged him: _This shouldn't be so easy._

-Ω-

This was how it was going to end.

This was _always_ how it was going to end.

Percy felt like he was floating, not really connected to his body as he seemed to watch the events unfolding from the view of an outsider. He felt oddly at peace, strangely calm, and he was only partially aware of Kathy's soft, muffled crying and Polybotes's arms around him as the giant carried him into the woods. The basilisks withdrew reverently as he ventured deeper and deeper into the dense boughs, with the nereid trailing behind him like a shadow. It as hot, like most days, but there was a cool breeze to the south that soothed Percy's sweaty skin and made the leaves in the trees rustle. Aside from the rustling foliage, the snap and crackle of leaves and twigs underfoot, Polybotes's breathing, and Kathy's soft weeping, there was silence. Complete and utter silence.

Then a raven called in the distance, a single harsh cry that fell silent afterwards.

That was odd; Percy had never heard birds on this island before, but he disregarded it, as did Polybotes and Kathy, though he did feel the giant tense slightly. Percy didn't have it in him to care. He drifted along in his dream world, a world where Polybotes couldn't hurt him and where he was lying on a picnic blanket with Annabeth, watching the stars. In this world he wasn't a dog, forced to bow to a master who beat him into the ground whenever he tried to rise, and he wasn't the one to blame for all of his torture. He wasn't the one who'd refused to break and had to suffer the consequences.

The trees began to thin out, growing skinnier and shorter until the wooded area gave way to a large clearing. The sky was a never-ending expanse of clouded grey, with barely any gaps of blue peeking out from behind the darkness, and Percy was struck with how much he missed the sky. He missed food, too, but he didn't really care as his stomach growled slightly. Polybotes hadn't fed him breakfast or lunch that morning. The demigod, vaguely, wondered why, but those thoughts were scattered to the wind as he regarded the clearing with a sort of detached interest. It was pretty, a nice place to seek refuge tucked away from the world, and Percy would've really liked to come here. Grass, which was soft rather than coarse when it brushed against Percy's legs, swayed in the breeze, rustling slightly, and Percy wished that there was grass like this in his enclosure. It would've made it all much more pleasant.

Polybotes continued towards the center of the clearing, and Percy was, dully surprised to see a circular raised dais that was just large enough to fit a grown man. The demigod felt so far away from his body as he was placed onto the pedestal, and even though he was uncomfortable, he couldn't really find the will to mind much. He continued to frolic in his mind, picking the small flowers and tearing out grass stems with one hand as he held Annabeth's hand with the other. She was pointing out so many stars to him. He never thought he'd remember them all, but he had to admit that he wasn't really listening, simply staring at Annabeth's face as she talked animatedly about huge balls of gas that were glowing millions of light years away. She was so beautiful.

Polybotes pulled a handgun from his belt, slowly, as Percy ran his hands through Annabeth's long blond hair, feeling it in his fingers. His hands in the real world, however, remained limp. The giant switched off the safety and loaded a single bullet into the chamber. Percy kissed Annabeth on the cheek and told her how much he missed her, and she gave him a funny look.

 _I'm right here, Seaweed Brain,_ she snorted, rolling her eyes. Her face was blurry around the edges. Oh yeah. Right. He was with Annabeth now. How come there was a hole in his heart that ached with longing for his girlfriend when she was right here with him? It was odd. The giant leveled the gun at Percy's head. The demigod looked past him to see a huge black raven sitting hunched on a nearby branch. It was a pretty bird.

"Last chance, buddy," Polybotes murmured. Percy didn't understand what he meant. Last chance to do what? He saw Kathy crying. Why was she crying? He didn't want her to cry. She was nice to him. The giant brought the barrel of the gun closer to Percy's forehead.

 _You're such a dork,_ Annabeth chuckled, shoving him lightly. She was smiling, her grey eyes crinkling at the corners as her sides heaved with laughter. He'd just told her a joke. What was that joke again? Percy didn't remember, but it must've been funny since Annabeth was laughing. In the real world, the demigod smiled ever so softly to himself, so slight that the people with him almost didn't notice it.

He pushed his head against the gun barrel, feeling the cold of it against his skin.

There was the sound of people crashing through the trees and then everything went black.

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Sorry about the long update, I had a lot of schoolwork to complete.**

 **Disclaimer: ThE cHaRaCtErS aRe RiCk'S, tHe PlOt Is ChRiStMaScOoKiE26's.**


	8. Chapter 8

Annabeth hunkered down and tried to block out the sounds of Percy's weeping, adjusting her armor and fiddling with her bone sword as she stood guard outside the cabin door. Jason seemed to be faring no better than the daughter of Athena was, and he seemed slightly sick as he took another peek through the window to see if Percy was still cowering under his bunk. Judging by the look on his face, he was. The most awful thing was that the reason Percy was scared was because of them; he thought it was all a hallucination or an illusion cooked up by Polybotes, and that day when he'd finally broken out of that insanity-induced stupor was one of the worst days of Annabeth's life, right up there when Hera took Percy away from her. She tried not to recall the memory, but it was like telling someone not to think of blue elephants; that's all they thought about.

-Ω-

 _Percy hadn't spoken to anyone since his liberation from Polybotes. Hell, he rarely even moved aside from blinking and breathing. He chewed and swallowed if food was given to him but would otherwise fail to eat, and Annabeth found it hard to look at the limp, prostrate form on the cot in the infirmary. Dionysus was supposed to come today and restore him, but the god had warned them via iris message that he could only cure the insanity and not the problems that occurred while he was still sane. So, if he was sane and still a blubbering mess, the wine god could do nothing about it, and that thought chilled Annabeth, because there was no_ if _he was a blubbering mess. It was_ when _he was a blubbering mess. Tortures like no other had been exacted upon him. Upon her Percy. Annabeth wondered how he must've felt, trapped in Polybotes's palace, what could've been going through his mind as he was reduced to nothing more than a shell of who he once was._

 _He must've felt so helpless._

 _So lonely._

 _No one to talk to but the very one he was being tortured by._

 _Nowhere to hide except inside himself. Chiron had said that his mind was too beaten and broken, and had retreated and curled up into a niche where Polybotes couldn't hurt it. He'd compared it to his head going into hibernation in order to make for minimal pain felt. Annabeth wiped her tears away rapidly as she was jerked from her reveries; Chiron had just ducked into the infirmary with Dionysus in tow, and all of the other campers inhabiting the beds were watching with rapt interest, though tension still hung thick in the air._

 _Dionysus didn't need any introductions or anything, he simply took a seat next to Annabeth at Percy's bedside and rolled up his sleeves. He looked more solemn and serious than Annabeth had ever seen him, and he turned Percy to face him with a gentleness that the daughter of Athena didn't know he possessed. She supposed it was a trick of the ears, but she swore she heard the god muttering prayers under his breath as he touched two fingers to either side of Percy's head._

 _Almost immediately, the god inhaled sharply, screwing his eyes shut tightly and gritting his teeth in obvious attempt to bite back pain. Annabeth chewed furiously on her nails as the god's arms trembled, his brow furrowed in concentration and his jaw clenched tightly. "C'mon, c'mon," he muttered. "You don't have to hide, come out." Time seemed to drag on for what seemed like hours, and Annabeth felt like she'd just perspired several buckets of sweat._

 _Percy's was thrust back into sanity with a scream._

-Ω-

Percy let out a broken sob as Jason walked in to bring him his dinner, cowering farther under the bed. This was all a mind trick. A hallucination that Polybotes had conjured up just to torture him seven further. This wasn't Jason, it was something created by his shattered, shattered mind to lure him into a false sense of security; one slip up and he was going to be tortured until the ends of his days. These mind-versions of his friends tried to persuade him to look them in the eye, tried to get him to sleep on the furniture and go outside, but he was having none of it. He could play Polybotes's game. He could follow the rules. Perhaps he had to spend a certain amount of time in this hallucination whilst still following the rules and then Polybotes would call it quits and let Percy rest for once in his life.

"Hiyah, Perce," Jason greeted softly, and Percy screwed his eyes shut, tears leaking out of the corners. That really sounded like Jason. It was such a perfect copy that Percy knew that it could only be created using Percy's own recollections of the son of Zeus; eidolons couldn't get his voice exactly right, and if this was the waking world that was just disguised as Camp Half-Blood, then boy did Polybotes go out of his way to make Percy's life a living hell. Therefore, he stuck with his theory that this was all just inside of his head. "Brought a little something for you." The sweet, delicious scent of pancakes wafted over to Percy, joining the smell of dust that always lingered under the bed, and his stomach let out a pitiful whimper. Judging from what he could see, the pancakes were, indeed, blue, and he gazed at it mournfully. "I mean, I'd prefer if you ate it out here and not under the bed." Jason took in a shuddering breath, and it seemed like he was trying to hold it all together, to be strong despite the fact that everything was against him, and Percy was chilled at the resemblance to the real Jason. Softer, the son of Zeus whispered, "Please?"

Percy decided that it would be best to follow the orders, considering the fact that Polybotes may be the one giving them, and slowly crept out from his hiding place, trembling all over. He kept his eyes dutifully trained on the ground and could feel Jason's ice-blue gaze boring into his body, though he ignored it as he tucked his knees under himself and tried to make himself as small as possible as he picked at the food. He tried to go slow, tried to have manners, but pretty soon the plate was empty and Percy's stomach was happily full.

Jason bent down and took the plate and silverware, trying to catch the son of Poseidon's eye, but Percy kept his gaze strictly averted. He was not an equal. He couldn't look anyone in the eye. He was still just a dog. Still a dumb, stupid dog. "Hey, it would be cool if you could, you know, look at me." Percy was not falling for that one, and he closed his eyes slowly, trying to calm his frantically beating heart. They sat there for what felt like years, silence reigning and the tension hanging like a fog over them. It was Jason who finally spoke up, "You want to talk or…?" There was another pause as Percy bit back the words on his tongue. He couldn't speak to him. Not now when he'd only been at Camp Half-Blood for a day and he'd seen Annabeth again. He couldn't have that ripped away from him. He couldn't survive that. He _would not_ speak, because as soon as he did the illusion would shatter and Polybotes would drag him down to his cell and gouge his eyes out. He liked this place. Liked this little fantasy world of Camp Half-Blood, and he was desperate to keep it. If being good meant he got to stay here longer, then he was going to be fucking good. In order to lessen the temptation of following the son of Zeus's request for conversation, Percy retreated back under the bed, the smell of dust welcoming him back once more. He tried to ignore the way Jason's face fell as he returned to his cowering and praying that he didn't slip up.

"Okay, then…bye, I guess." Jason rose to his feet, looking heartbroken as he ran his hand through his hair, his eyes glassy as he chewed on his lip. Percy shoved down the pang of guilt in his chest, knowing that this was all just a part of Polybotes's game, a game that he fully intended to win. "If you need anything, Annabeth and I are just outside the door, okay?" His words died as Percy didn't reply, and just like that he'd slipped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Percy let out a heavy sigh, turning over so he was lying on his back, looking up at the bottom of the mattress and the mesh supporting it. It looked less comfortable from this position, so it was easier to fight back the longing to jump up into those familiar sheets and bury himself in them. There were no dog beds to be seen, and Percy wasn't sure whether he'd be punished if he took the blankets off the bed, so he simply remained on the floor, trying not to feel the cold creeping up on him as the night progressed.

He didn't sleep, too afraid of what may be lurking in the dark and too afraid of the monsters that may haunt him in his dreams. He stayed under the bed, though, and every so often Annabeth would poke their heads in to check up on him, and on more than one occasion he had to feign slumber if they actually knelt down beside the bed and looked under it. He was just nodding off when Annabeth slunk inside of the cabin once more, closing the door gently behind her in an attempt to keep quiet. That was odd; it was usually just an in-and-out thing, and she always left the door open so she could make a quick exit. This time, though, she laid down next to the bed, a mere foot away from Percy. The demigod wanted to reach out and touch her. Wanted to run his hands through her hair and tell her how much he loved her. He refrained, though, and hoped that Polybotes would give him a reward for all of the restraint he was exhibiting.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she murmured to the room, pillowing her head on her arms. "I've missed you." It only took those six words and Percy was already crying silently, and he hoped that Annabeth didn't notice his uneven breathing. "We were looking for you for such a long time. We thought we'd lost you for good. I'm glad _you're_ here." Percy pursed his lips to keep from whimpering, and the silence that reigned while Annabeth pondered her next words deafened the son of Poseidon.

 _This is just a trick. This is just a trick. This is just a trick._

"You're acting a little off now, but I'm hoping that you'll get better soon so I can do a little more to help," she hushed, her words wet, and Percy could see her wiping away her tears. His own left salty trails down his cheeks, and he screwed his eyes shut and pursed his lips against the sheer agony of it all. Here was his girlfriend. Right here. And he couldn't talk to her.

 _It's not real. It's not real. It's not real._

"At least you're eating well," Annabeth mused, but she seemed to be trying to cheer herself up. "You were a bit skinny. But I'm hoping that when you get better you'll be able to go to the mess hall with me and shovel food into your mouth to your heart's content." That sounded like an incredible idea, but the part of Percy that was fueled by dark humor threw back its head and laughed at the way this Dream-Annabeth said _when_ he got better, not _if._ How…optimistic of her.  
"Aristotle was sent by your dad. He watches over you when Jason and I need some sleep. I hope you're okay with being guarded by a bird." She laughed weakly to try and mask her sniffling, which tore Percy's heart in two. "Please get better."

 _This is just a trick. It's not real. This is just a trick. Only a trick. It's not real in any way, shape or form._

"Come back to me. You're here but you're still so far away…" she allowed herself a single solitary sob, and Percy wiped furiously at his face, trying to keep his own whimpers silent. "I just want to let you know that I love you so very, very much, and I think that you're the best boyfriend in the entire world. You're such a Seaweed Brain and you can put a smile on my face even when times are hard and…" she took in a shuddering breath, "I just want you safe and happy. I want you to put this all behind you and be able to live your life in peace. I know you're probably asleep and can't hear this, but again, I love you so much." And with that, she got up and left, closing the door behind her quietly.

"No, please, stay," Percy whispered hoarsely to the room. The illusion didn't dissipate. He wasn't punished for speaking aloud.

Percy fell into an uneasy slumber.

-Ω-

 _Dionysus delved deep into Percy's mind, sifting through the endless memories that surged up to meet him. It was intimate to point where the demigod would've never approved had he been sane enough to voice his complaints, and Dionysus batted away recollections of fighting Furies and flying on pegasi, venturing towards the darker parts of the boy's mind. The memories slowly began to have more feelings than just joy and nervousness and excitement attached to them. Fear. Loneliness. Helplessness. Agony. Dionysus ventured through memories of the war with the titans and the giants, eventually coming to the darkest corner he could find. Images of whips and clubs, things meant to bruise and break and slice, greeted Dionysus, and the god shuddered, trying to ignore the muffled screams that were Percy's own as they echoed through the recollections, which always carried around a haze of agony with them._

 _Most of these nightmares contained Polybotes, and the giant always seemed to be having so much fun making Percy scream and wail. The giant usually had a grin plastered over his face, his eyes glittering with malice as he exacted unimaginable tortures upon poor Perseus Jackson. Dionysus thought he was going to throw up. He had no business to dwell here, though, and continued to go even farther until he'd reached the edge of the huge ball of memories that made up Percy's mind. Had Percy been sane, Dionysus would've had to travel a whole lot farther through the son of Poseidon's head, considering that every single minute the average person had about forty-eight thoughts. It chilled him how all those thoughts had been silenced._

 _He was standing at the edge of the cluster of memories, now, looking out into the huge expanse of blackness that lay ahead. Normally it would house the subconscious, but that part had retreated away into the recesses of Percy's mind in order to make sure that the boy suffered less. Dionysus's eyes raked over the void until they trained on a single pinprick of light in the distance, and with confidence he began to stroll over. Usually, the body would be trying to eject Dionysus from its head, unwilling to have intruders, and the god was wary of the fact that there were no guardians to be seen, these guardians usually taking the forms of parents figures and friends. The light grew brighter, and eventually Dionysus was standing before Percy's subconsciousness, his sanity. It was tucked away in the recesses of Percy's head, far away from where anything, including pain, couldn't be felt, and Dionysus swallowed hard as he regarded it._

 _It was a small tendril of wispy golden light, but instead of pulsing with energy, it was dull. Normal sanities usually would rise up to greet Dionysus, curious, but this one stayed put, limp and shining so much more weakly than any other sanity he'd ever seen. And to think that this was Percy Jackson, savior of Olympus twice over._

 _"_ _Hey there, Perseus," Dionysus murmured, extending a hand, but the wisp of light shied away from him, its golden hue dulling even more in its fear. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." The light curled in on itself, trembling, and Dionysus took it gently into his arms, carrying it away and back towards the huge, glowing mass of memories. "Let's get you back to where you belong." He looked down at the light and found that it had dimmed even further, nearly transparent, and the first seed of anxiety and doubt was planted into the god's mind._

 _Percy may not survive this._

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Gah this is so depressing :'(**


	9. Chapter 9

It took two weeks to get Percy out from under the bed for longer than a few minutes. It took two more weeks to get him to at least acknowledge the existence of the people in the room with him. Two more weeks and he would hesitantly sleep in his own bed and sit on chairs. A month passed before he ventured out of the cabin. He still got spooked whenever he was around large groups of people, preferring to slip out in the wee hours of the morning or in the darkest parts of night. He wouldn't mind the guards posted outside of his room to trail him like shadows, but he would get nervous and fidgety if they got too close. They would follow him to the beach, where he'd just sit in the sand and stare at the waves for hours, hunched over and letting the small granules fall through his fingers.

He still hadn't spoken a single word to anyone, not even Annabeth, who slept in the Poseidon cabin every night to try and comfort him. Though he didn't state it, Annabeth's closeness was clearly helping Percy recover. He'd venture out of the cabin at night mostly because he woke from his nightmares screaming and couldn't get back to sleep. It was slow, but it was still progress.

"So, when are you thinking of joining back up in the festivities?" Leo asked nonchalantly, leaning against the wall and watching Percy read a comic book in Greek. The son of Poseidon didn't look at him, per the norm, but a muscle in his brow twitched that allowed Leo to know he was listening; of course, Percy wasn't doing it on purpose, but Leo had found that tick of his very helpful. "You know like capture the flag and the campfire?" Percy just turned the page of the comic book, his eyes skimming over the words, and Leo was glad that Polybotes hadn't cut off anything or done any harm that would cripple the demigod physically, though he did note how the mental wounds went deep. He was no fool; he'd seen the crisscross of scars on Percy's back. The burns and the dark bruises that had bloomed over his skin on the first day of his rescue. He knew that Percy had undergone some serious mental torture alongside the physical torture, and it showed.

"We miss you around, Percy," Leo murmured, "Can you at least come to the Zeus cabin and we can all have a sleepover together? Just the Seven and Nico and Will? Perhaps Reyna could join, too? It would be fun." The son of Hephaestus backed off the subject as he saw Percy's fingers trembling a bit, and the room fell to the reign of a stuffy and uncomfortable quiet. Leo decided to leave Percy to his own devices and slipped out of the cabin with a sigh, closing the door behind him. Hazel gave him a grim look, and he could only exhale heavily and shake his head. He was growing more worried by the day; Percy had been improving in leaps and bounds, but for the past several weeks, he'd been at a standstill. He didn't relapse, but he wasn't getting better, either, and Leo feared that they'd be stuck with this silent, frightened Percy for the rest of their days, one who couldn't handle having all of his friends in the same room.

"I hope he recovers," Hazel breathed, taking incredibly interest in her shoes.

"You don't recover from things like that," Leo stated before he could stop himself, and he had no choice but to soldier on, "You simply become a new person. You can't go back to your old self because your old self is too broken." He feared that Hazel would blow up, yell at him for being too insensitive, but rather than do that, a single tear dripped down her face.

"Leo, I'm afraid you might be right."

-Ω-

 _Percy was at Polybotes's. How could that be? He hadn't been at Polybotes's for a few weeks now, not since he'd been thrust into this dream world. He'd long ago abandoned the notion that this was all inside of his head; it was far too real for that. He could smell and touch, the results of the actions incredibly vivid, unlike it would normally be inside someone's head. Percy had concluded by the end of the first month that this was a work of the Mist. Oceanus and Polybotes and the Archbishop had needed to go off somewhere, and perhaps take Kathy with them, and they hadn't wanted to go through the trouble of getting a babysitter. Therefore, they'd just conjured up a dream land for Percy to live in until they returned, and in the waking world Percy was probably wandering aimlessly around the palace and the island, so close and yet so far from freedom._

 _Now, though, he was back in the palace, and almost immediately he began to tremble where he stood, hunching himself to try and be as small as possible. The sound of heavy footsteps made his stomach plummet like a leaden ball that had been tossed into the sea. Polybotes emerged, grinning just as wickedly as ever, and lumbered around the couch and over to Percy, whose feet were glued to the floor as his blood turned to ice in his veins. For a few moments he stood there, staring at Polybotes's feet and shaking as his body began to erupt with phantom pains. The sting of a whip. The burn of a brand. The jolt of an electric shock._

 _All it took was Polybotes to command gruffly, "Down, boy," and Percy was sinking to his knees, shivering so hard he thought he'd shake right out of his skin. "Good dog." A solitary tear made its way down Percy's face and dripped onto the floor. Polybotes began to circle around Percy like a vulture, his eyes keen and his smile absolutely wicked. "I think you're getting too comfortable in this place, no? You can answer all of these questions without being reprimanded."_

 _"_ _Y-y-yes, sir," Percy whispered, wringing his hands in his lap. More tears fell. "I-I'm getting too comfortable."_

 _"_ _You went on the furniture," Polybotes noted and, offhandedly, he added, "I should punish you for that. Should I, Perseus?"_

 _"_ _Please don't," Percy begged, in serious danger of keeling over and dying from his heart bursting out of his chest right then and there. "Please."_

 _"_ _Yes, but do you deserve it?"_

 _A pause._

 _"_ _Yes, I do deserve it."_

 _"_ _And why is that?"_

 _"_ _Because I got too comfortable and broke the rules."_

 _"_ _So why should I not punish you?"_

 _Percy remained silent. There were no reasons. Life with Polybotes was agony, but at least it was simple; you break the rules, you get punished. No buts. He couldn't technically state aloud that he'd thought Polybotes wasn't watching, that would only make the giant mad, so he just bent his head and let out a sob._

 _Polybotes gave an exasperated sigh, rubbing his face, "Just because I'm away doesn't mean that you can suddenly do whatever you want, Perseus. This was a test, and at first you were doing well, but then you allowed your 'friends' to get to you and proceeded to fail miserably. That deserves a punishment, am I wrong?"_

 _"_ _You're not wrong," Percy hiccupped, wiping furiously at his runny nose and his leaking eyes. The demigod yelped as Polybotes suddenly knelt and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him roughly._

 _"_ _When will you learn?" he demanded, sounding aggravated and fed-up. "When will you learn?!"_

 _"_ _I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Percy wept. "I didn't mean to I'm sorry."_

 _"_ _Shut up, you insolent boy," Polybotes hissed, and the demigod fell silent, choking back the sobs that bubbled up in his throat. "Months upon months of training and refinement ruined in a handful of weeks. I am disappointed in you." Percy bent his head. This was all his fault. He was going to get beat within an inch of his life or worse because he was stupid enough to think that he was well and truly free. Polybotes was here and he was watching, and Percy was determined not to fuck up this time. "I have given you so many warnings, Percy, but not I feel that it's time to act on them."_

 _Percy let out a startled squeak as Polybotes dragged him up and away, setting off on a path that he knew all too well. He wanted to scream, wanted to thrash and fight and beg and cry for help, but Polybotes had told him to be silent. He shook with his suppressed whimpers as Polybotes's hand clamped down on Percy's shoulder and steered him this way and that despite the fact that the demigod knew every terrifying twist and turn. They approached the cell block, and Percy balked slightly before he was shoved through the door, Polybotes right on his heels. They descended down into the cold dark, and smooth plaster bled into unforgiving stone bricks. Polybotes was a constant presence behind Percy, the reminded that he was in huge trouble, and his heart was roaring in his chest._

 _Percy didn't need to be directed when they reached his cell. As soon as Polybotes unlocked the heavy metal door, the demigod took his place in the center of the room, raising his arms high above his head obediently so that Polybotes could chain his hands. His metal cuffs were starting to look awfully similar to the others hanging from the ceiling; the other cuffs looked…well-worn, per se…and once upon a time Percy's cuffs had stood out against them, shining and brand new. Now, Percy noted the ring of red crust lining the insides of them, from when he'd thrashed too hard or hung for too long. The two hooks in the corner, which he, chillingly, recalled being plunged into the meat of his shoulders, were starting to look worn as well._

 _"_ _Lift up your foot. It doesn't matter which," Polybotes ordered, and Percy did so without question, though the curiosity in his eyes was more fueled by wariness and anxiety than anticipation. The giant knelt down and removed Percy's shoe and sock, tossing them to the side and then allowing the demigod to put his foot down again. The floor was cool to the touch, and the chilly air nipped at his exposed skin. Percy tilted his head to the side, his brow knitting, but then the giant produced a huge knife from his belt. It dawned on him._

 _"_ _No! No! Please!" Percy wailed, writhing in his chains, which did little but make his wrists hurt. Sweat dribbled down his forehead, mingling with the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Stop! Please! No!" Polybotes clamped his hand down on Percy's ankle to keep him still, and Percy became a mess of tears and snot. "I'll do anything! No! PLEASE!" Polybotes's eyes zeroed in on Percy's big toe "STOP! PLEASE! PLEASE!"_ _Looking back on it, Percy truly realized how redundant that word was. How little it meant when it fell upon the wrong set of ears._

 _Polybotes raised his knife, coming down in a deadly arc that Percy's eyes seemed to process in slow motion. Percy screamed bloody murder._

-Ω-

Frank knew something was wrong when Percy burst out of the cabin, his eyes wild and his breath sawing in and out of his lungs. The demigod didn't even spare him or Piper a second glance, taking off down the road towards the beach. He noticed, with horror, that the son of Poseidon was limping. Terribly. He stumbled, barely able to keep himself upright, and Frank and Piper exchanged a look and took off after him. He paid them no heed. He just kept running and running until they hit the sandy shores, where he staggered for a few paces and collapsed, weeping. Frank wanted to lunge to help, but Piper stopped him, shaking her head vigorously, and Frank was reminded of how Percy didn't like being in close proximity of anyone. His presence would only make the son of Poseidon even more fearful.

The demigod stripped off his socks and stared at his feet, which seemed perfectly normal. Percy seemed shocked, but when he touched the big toe on his right foot, he let out an ear-piercing shriek. It wouldn't be heard all the way at the cabins, but it sure got Frank and Piper on high alert.

"We have to get a medic or something," Frank begged pacing back and forth like a caged tiger. "He's having an anxiety attack or something…"

"We can't," Piper hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes screwed tightly shut as if she were trying to will herself away to any place but the here and now. "He'll have a mental breakdown."

"I feel so fucking helpless," Frank growled. Percy was tearing their hearts to shreds, clutching his shoulders and scream-crying, his shoulders shaking as they were wracked with hiccupped sobs and strangled wails. And suddenly there was quiet. Percy rose to his feet, slowly, and limped back to his cabin, his face scarily blank and his hands trembling. Frank and Piper exchanged a terrified look and set off after him.

-Ω-

It was as if the Fates themselves were testing whether things could get any worse than what they were now. Frank and Piper reported Percy having a meltdown right before their shift was over, and the very next day, everything went to absolute hell.

Percy had retreated back under the bed.

He was even worse than he was during the days right after Dionysus restored his sanity. He would refuse food, staring at it as if it would suddenly come alive and tear his throat out, and was more fearful of his friends than ever before. He wouldn't even show his face, and he cowered to the far corners when the guards stooped low enough to check on him. It was the embodiment of mental deterioration. At first, Annabeth and everyone else hoped that this was just a phase, that this was just Percy having a bad day.

It went on for weeks.

Percy wept silently as his friends dragged him out and fed him via funnel, looking so betrayed that Annabeth wanted to throw herself into the sea and drown. He would whimper at the slightest bump in the night, and would freeze up entirely at times, which Aristotle had reported only happened when he broke one of the rules that Polybotes had laid out for him before. Then Annabeth began to notice the damage that was not only mental. During the ultra-rare times that Percy left the cabin, merely to go to the bathroom in the woods, Annabeth notice how hard he limped, how he choked back cries of pain whenever he landed on his right foot.

All of these unnoticeable wounds began to appear all over Percy's body. He'd wince whenever he turned his head, would rub at his neck like a dog irritated by a shock collar, would exhale harshly whenever his fingers flexed, and his breathing would rattle in his agony whenever he inhaled. They'd reluctantly drugged Percy's food and taken him to the Apollo cabin, where they concluded that there were no outward injuries, but that was to be argued as Percy's muscles spasmed in pain even in unconsciousness.

This went on for months. Annabeth cried herself to sleep every night; they'd been healing. They'd been so close to getting Percy to finally meeting someone's gaze. So close to finally getting Percy to utter his first words to them since his capture. And now this. They eventually brought Dionysus in again, since Percy was showing all the signs of being insane once more, and the god, after examining Percy's mind, came to a chilling conclusion:

"Polybotes is coming to Percy in his dreams and torturing him," the wine god stated, and everyone inhaled sharply. Annabeth broke down, having done it so many times in front of company that she no longer cared that everyone was staring at her in pity. "He has vivid memories of it, and the tortures that are occurring within the dreams reflect on the phantom wounds he seems to be having in real life. Somehow the pain is transferring itself into the waking world."

"We'll help, then," Clovis announced, speaking on behalf of all the Hypnos kids. He was wide awake, and his eyes held a resolve that Annabeth had never seen before. It warmed her heart that people were willing to go to such great lengths for her Percy. "I think we'll be able to find a way to get Percy's mind barricaded from Polybotes. It explains the relapse, though, what with the giant constantly refreshing Percy on the rules whenever he closes his eyes."

"We can do this, guys," Jason assured, and for once, everyone in the entire camp, whether they be children of Apollo or Ares or Hermes or Zeus or Demeter or whatever, agreed.

"It's time to save Percy Jackson. For real, this time."

-Ω-

 **(A/N) Sorry for not updating; schoolwork is piling up fast. I'm also working on a group of Six of Crows one-shots (great books, you should really read them) and then, of course, I have two more timestamps left on a sequel for another series of PJO fics and I'm working on a Supernatural fanfic that I have complete and total writer's block on. Add this fic on top of that and you have one huge clusterfuck! Yay!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything; the characters are Rick's, the plot is Christmascookie26's**


	10. Chapter 10

"Hey, Percy," Annabeth murmured, lowering herself down onto the sand, which was cool beneath her fingers. "How you feeling?" The bitter wind nipped at her cheeks and nose, turning them pink, and it brought the sharp tang of salt and brine with it. She knew that her boyfriend shouldn't be out here, lest he catch a cold, but she knew that it would only make him sad if she demanded that he get back inside. Instead, she wrapped the blanket she'd brought around his shoulders, her heart drooping a bit as he shied away from her. Annabeth hadn't noticed that she'd gotten too close, and respected his space, however, aside from him moving away from her, Percy hadn't really acknowledged Annabeth's presence much, if at all; his eyes were distant as they gazed out to sea, like he would somehow find the answers to all of his problems there.

"Are you alright? Were you having nightmares again?" Percy nodded, wrapping the blanket more tightly around himself, and Annabeth let out a heavy breath of relief; every time the son of Poseidon ignored her, she feared he'd relapsed again, that Polybotes had somehow managed to get past the wall the Hypnos kids had erected in Percy's head. He still had yet to speak to anyone, but Annabeth wasn't complaining; they were making progress. It was slow progress, but it was still progress.

They stayed there for a while, watching the sea and the stars that twinkled overhead coldly, and Annabeth was hyper-aware of the gap in between them. She wanted so desperately to reach out to him and touch him, wanted to kiss him until he couldn't breathe and take him back to the Poseidon cabin to have her way with him, but she knew that she shouldn't. Percy wouldn't appreciate the touching, and that would only hinder his recovery. Annabeth didn't want to be the cause of that.

She instead concentrated on watching Percy, who, unlike the Percy before Polybotes, was perfectly content sitting and doing absolutely nothing. His eyes looked so much older, his irises like shards of stained glass, and it always made Annabeth curious, wondering what he could possibly be thinking about. He'd become much plumper since when they'd found him, his cheekbones less prominent and his arms thicker, but he had this slouch to him that wasn't just due to teenaged laziness and easygoingness; it was the slouch of someone who, if they tried to sit up straight, would just get beaten back down again. It turned Annabeth's blood to ice whenever she thought about it.

Eventually, her mind began to wander.

-Ӝ-

 _"_ _We're sorry, Annabeth, but he has to be awake for this," Clovis apologized, his eyes filled with guilt as five Ares campers held Percy to down to the table, screaming and thrashing. His eyes were wild, like a cornered animal's, and tears leaked out of the corners. The worst part was that, in this moment, his first words since he'd been brought back were tumbling from his lips:_

 _"_ _Please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, please don't hurt me, please,_ please _-" He choked on a sob, and many of the Ares kids that were keeping him down couldn't bear to look, their expressions strained as they turned their heads away._

 _"_ _Can you try to calm him down? This whole process would be so much easier on him," Clovis murmured. Annabeth nodded vigorously, wiping at her eyes a bit and shuffling over to the table, where Percy had finally worn himself out and was now limp, though the Ares kids still made sure he was pinned in case it was all a trick. Percy watched her warily with eyes whose pupils were just pinpricks within the irises, his fear almost tangible and his breath sawing in and out of his lungs._

 _"_ _Percy shh…it's me, Annabeth," she told him softly, kneeling so that they were eye-to-eye. Percy gave Annabeth an unconvinced look, and Annabeth wondered just how many times she'd been used against the son of Poseidon; how many times Polybotes had sent him visions of her dying or had told him that he'd killed her. He couldn't raise his head because an Ares kid's hand was planted on his neck, but his eyes followed Annabeth when she moved. "Percy, I'm right here. Nobody's going to hurt you. Everything's fine. I'm right here and I'll stay with you. Do you want that?" Percy just stared at her in disbelief for a few moments, and Annabeth let out a sigh. She was just rising to leave when suddenly there was a hoarse croak:_

 _"_ _Hold my hand."_

 _"_ _Of course, Percy," Annabeth whispered, her voice cracking, "Of course I will hold your hand." The Ares camper pinning the son of Poseidon's hands withdrew, and Percy reached out and twined his fingers through Annabeth's. He was on his side, and he seemed to have calmed a bit, and Annabeth tried not to consider how thin her boyfriend's hands had become. They felt like glass in hers, and she held it gingerly, as if it would break if she handled it the wrong way._

 _"_ _Promise me that this is real," he begged as Clovis came over to him, his voice a murmur and his gaze locked with Annabeth's, "Please promise me that this is real."_

 _"_ _This is real," Annabeth choked out, "I am here with you. This isn't a trick."_

 _Percy smiled softly, his eyes never moving from Annabeth's face as Clovis's fingers pressed against his temples_

-Ω-

He had yet to speak after that whole event, and that had been a week ago, but he had taken to looking people in the eye on occasion. Annabeth worried for Percy excessively, but knew that the son of Poseidon had to heal on his own time; it would do him no good if Annabeth tried to force him to do things he wasn't quite ready for, even if those things were as simple as speaking and touching other people. She sat there, watching Percy watch the sea, and decided that if this was what she would have to settle with, she would be okay with it. Unlike the pitiful, cowering Percy of past days, this Percy, though quiet and slightly skittish, smiled and laughed and scoffed and snorted. He could communicate. Even though she probably wouldn't be able to keep the relationship going, she would be okay with this Percy as a friend.

She was jolted out of her thoughts when suddenly there was a warm hand over hers. She looked up, shocked, to find Percy with a shit-eating grin on his face, though his eyes were still trained on the horizon. She thought she'd might cry, but she didn't want to ruin the happiness of this moment, instead opting to twine her fingers through his.

"You didn't have nightmares, did you?" she prompted. Percy shook his head, and she chuckled softly, scooting over to lean against him. He tensed a bit and Annabeth began to withdraw, but his other hand snapped out to keep her there, eventually moving to card his hands through her hair. In that moment she allowed herself a single, solitary tear to trickle down her cheek as she smiled so hard her face hurt.

"I love you," she whispered. Percy didn't reply, but he gave her hand a vigorous squeeze that had to count for something.

-Ω-

"Annabeth." His girlfriend's name was like a prayer on his tongue, and he murmured it over and over again into her hair, which smelled just like he remembered it did. They were tangled together in the dark, the covers pulled up over their shoulders, and Percy kissed Annabeth's forehead for the umpteenth time, his fingertips eating up the miles of skin under the daughter of Athena's pajamas. They'd done nothing but kiss, which Percy was completely and totally fine with, and yet he was soaring high as if he'd just finished making love to his beautiful, beautiful girlfriend.

Annabeth wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing against him as much as she possibly could as her fingers tugged at the curly hairs at the nape of his neck. He couldn't believe this was real, found it difficult to believe it was real, but he was growing more convinced by the day that he was truly safe here. That this was actually home, and in his arms was actually Annabeth and not an image conjured up by Polybotes. He realized with a jolt that that underlying fog of _fear_ , one he'd had since he'd arrived back at Camp Half-Blodd, had dissipated entirely in that moment, replaced by the warm glow of _home._

Though those three weeks since their hand-holding on the beach were grueling, Percy was glad to have taken it slow, unsure of how he would've handled it if they'd rushed into things. Hell, they hadn't even done anything major and he was as content as a cat lying in a patch of sunlight.

"I love you so much," he said to Annabeth, "I love you more than anything in the whole world."

"Really?" Annabeth scoffed, playfully. "More than blue pancakes?"

"Ooh you got me there." The two of them broke out into uncontrollable giggling. Little did they see the small shadow watching them from the window.

-Ӝ-

"He's healing," the Archbishop croaked. "Why is he healing?"

"My apologies, sir," Polybotes mumbled, wringing his hands together. "The Hypnos scum have barred me from his mind, making it untraceable and unable to be invaded."

"I am never usually this lenient with employees who fail to do my bidding this often," the Archbishop hissed, slamming his fist down on the table and making Polybotes jump. "Yes, I understand that it would be the ultimate blow to the child if we allowed him to be rescued and then captured him back again, but during that time in between he's not supposed to be happy. He's supposed to be suffering."

"I ask for your forgiveness, my liege," Polybotes apologized, keeping his eyes firmly trained on the table. "I will not make any more mistakes."

"I hope so, for your own safety. I want that boy blubbering and cowering at my feet by the end of all of this, perfect for being dragged and paraded around on the end of a leash."

"I will not fail you. Percy Jackson will suffer."

"He'd better."

-Ω-

 **(A/N) This is so depressing why am I writing this**


	11. Chapter 11

The island was a grave, a grave that Kathy would most likely be lowered into at some point in the future. The wind didn't blow and the leaves didn't rustle as she picked her way down the path, rubbing at the bracelet on her wrist every so often to make sure that it was still working. She hadn't dissolved into water or sea foam yet, so that was a good sign. She tried to keep her breathing even and her movements relaxed, but it was difficult, considering how her heart was jackhammering away against her ribcage.

She caught glimpses of basilisks peering at her through the trees, their glowing yellow eyes following her as she passed and their crests fluttering as they kept a close watch. She tried not to seem suspicious, because even though Polybotes had granted her free range of the island and had insisted that the basilisks wouldn't bother her, she still didn't trust these snakes to not kill her. She'd grown to become somewhat of a housemaid and companion to Polybotes since Percy was rescued, and even though she was treated much nicer than she'd been with the Archbishop, she was still a slave.

As she walked, Kathy's mind began to wander to the day that Percy had been taken back by his friends. She'd watched in awe as the demigods of the Great Prophecy burst through the trees, their eyes blazing with such hate that Kathy wondered if she'd crumble to dust if her gaze s locked with theirs. In that moment, Kathy had realized just how monsters felt when facing down these demigods; there was a voice in her head, one that had yelled loud and clear once she'd seen the first glint of the Celestial Bronze swords in the demigods' hands, " _YOU'RE GOING TO DIE."_ It had rattled her, thinking back on it; she'd been so close to being killed that she wondered if it was a blessing or a curse that she'd survived; she would be free at last and her sisters would be safe from Polybotes, but then again, Kathy wondered whether or not she'd go to the Fields of Punishment for serving a giant and…whatever the Archbishop was. It was that question, that wondering whether she'd go to Punishment or not, that had ultimately spurred her out on this walk.

She'd been on incredibly high alert since the demigods had left with their friend, considering the fact that she'd been the one to send the Iris message to Camp Half-Blood, and every sudden sound scared her nearly out of her skin these days. Polybotes and the Archbishop hadn't caught on as far as Kathy knew, and they were either blissfully ignorant or were waiting for a chance to skewer Kathy on a pike. She was leaning more towards the latter, considering just how many secrets that the two monsters knew about the naiad, and if they somehow hadn't found out already, then they _would_ find out. It was only a matter of time before they confronted her and deemed her guilty, and that meant that Kathy had to get out of there as fast as possible. She didn't care if she died trying to escape; she could only hope that her change of heart and her final moments spent trying to get away from her captors would land her in Asphodel rather than Punishment.

Finally, the trees and shrubbery began to thin out and bleed into sand as Kathy emerged onto the beach, her stomach beginning to do flip-flops as she became even more exposed with every step from the tree line. Her fear was almost tangible, and her breath had begun to saw in and out of her lungs some time during the first few paces from cover. What if Polybotes and the Archbishop had been following her? What if she'd been so focused on trying to form a plan that she hadn't noticed them tailing her? She turned and glanced over her shoulder, as if she would see the silhouettes of monsters hiding in the shadows, but there was nothing but leaves and grass and bushes.

Kathy attempted to calm herself down, taking deep, heaving breaths and trying to steady her racing heart. She slowly paced back and forth, running her hands through her hair as she struggled to devise an escape strategy that wouldn't end with her being torn to bits, though she wasn't much of a strategist to begin with. She'd just been a regular naiad with a regular family, living in a regular home under the sea, though all of that had been ripped away from her during the Second Giant War, when Porphyrion's troops had seized Kathy's town. The naiad had just been the one unlucky enough to be the one chosen by him to be forced into slavery, and when Porphyrion had been defeated, Kathy's service had been passed to the Archbishop. She hadn't seen her sisters or her parents since then, but if what the Archbishop and Polybotes were saying was true, then her sisters were being held captive and her parents were dead. She'd had no choice but to follow his ever order, in case what they were saying was correct and every misstep meant her sisters would suffer.

She ground her toes into the sand, worrying at her bottom lip with her teeth as Oceanus's huge body arced from the water as he swam past, the spines razor sharp and the white scales gleaming in the sunlight. He was the only thing stopping her…on top of the Sea of Monsters…and the fact that she had no idea where she had to go. Needless to say, there were many obstacles, so many that even the mere thought of escape was completely and utterly ridiculous. Even if she did somehow manage to dodge Oceanus, the Sea of Monsters was vast, and Kathy could swim for years without getting out of it, and she felt so helpless she thought she might break down and cry.

She waited for as long as she dared; she'd been calculating how long it took Oceanus to completely circle the island and had confirmed that at the thirty minute mark the huge serpent would be at the other end of the island. This island wasn't that large, though, and Kathy estimated that she had about five minutes to leap into the surf and swim away before Oceanus drew near enough to hear the disruption in the water and be alerted by it. She was close enough to the water for her dissolving into water vapor not to be an issue, and with trembling fingers she tossed the bracelet into the sand in case it had a tracking device in it.

She took a deep breath and began to run into the waves, her clothes growing soggy and weighing her down as she sloshed farther and farther out to sea, and with a deep breath she leapt into the water, feeling her legs fuse and morph into her much-missed tail. Her gills emerged from her neck, having fused into her skin so she could breathe air, and the water rushed into them, soothing Kathy's frayed nerves as she truly felt at home. This water was feral, though- it was water that wasn't controlled by Poseidon- and she began to propel herself away from the island as she heard the telltale sound of Oceanus moving through the water, though it was distant. She prayed he hadn't heard her.

She swam faster than she'd ever done before.

-Ω-

"Good job, Nico!" Percy cheered as Nico wiped the sweat off of his brow, grinning like a fool as Will slowly rose to his feet and dusted himself off, grumbling about fairness. The two of them fist-bumped as the son of Apollo limped over, his brow furrowed and the corners of his lips downturned. "You too, Will."

"You're just saying that to be nice," Will snapped fiercely, "Nico kicked my ass and you know it. There's no possible way that I could've done a good job." Percy only grinned lopsidedly and shrugged, which seemed to make the blond-haired boy even more irritated. As Nico fiddled with the ripped sleeves of his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, Will collected all of his arrows (which were, thankfully, blunt) and stowed them away in his quiver while putting away the wooden practice sword Nico had been using; even though they were trained professionals, or as close to professionals as demigods could get, Chiron only allowed real weapons in the training arena under his supervision, and had even been adamant about making sure that the demigods of the Great Prophecy didn't carry their weapons around. They did it anyway.

Percy handed Will his quiver full of real arrows and gave Nico his sword back, holding it gingerly in his hands. Even though the demigod had long since gotten used to being near and holding weapons, Nico's sword still clearly unnerved him, and the son of Hades didn't know whether to feel glad or guilty, though he really didn't have time to think about it as Jason trudged into the arena with a group of giddy younger campers on his heels.

"Out," he grunted, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb. "I gotta teach a lesson."

"As you wish, Mr. Grumpy," Percy scoffed, but his green eyes sparkled as he and Jason gave each other a bro hug before going their separate ways.

"As one of the two residential homosexuals in this friend group, that was _really_ gay," Nico snorted as they trudged up the path and towards the cabins. Percy seemed offended, and he turned to Will for support, but the son of Apollo only pursed his lips and nodded grimly. "What do you think we should do? I mean, I've got to give a lesson on the Underworld at five, but before then I thought we could just hang out in the Hades cabin." Though Nico was addressing both of them, his eyes were trained on Will, and Percy really didn't feel like being the third wheel for a week in a row. There was a rule that a boy and a girl couldn't be alone in a cabin, but Will and Nico, on top of the fact that the Hades cabin had only one resident when Hazel was at Camp Jupiter, could fuck whenever they wanted. Judging from the looks they were giving each other, Percy decided it was time to bid farewell.

"You two go have your fun," Percy snickered, and the couple promptly ignored him as Nico practically dragged Will into the Hades cabin, much to the disgusted looks of the campers around them. The son of Poseidon smiled to himself and made his way over to his cabin, slipping inside to evade the heat. Summer had rolled around once more, and not for one moment did Percy enjoy the fact that he'd missed an entire year of school; during that time, Percy would've given anything to just sit and be bored in a desk. New Rome's college stated that his year of absence wouldn't affect his enrollment or scholarship, considering the fact that almost everyone knew that that during the school year Percy had been in the clutches of Polybotes or going through serious rehabilitation. He hadn't been allowed out of Camp Half-Blood until Chiron, Mr. D, and the Apollo cabin gave the OK, and when he'd finally managed to get their approval, he'd gone out with his friends to see his mom.

Needless to say, Sally and Paul were overjoyed that Percy was okay, and the son of Poseidon was glad that nobody had given them the full details of what had happened. To them, Percy had simply been held captive in a cell before everyone rescued him. They didn't know of the torture, and Percy was determined to keep it that way. Instead of visiting, Poseidon had Iris-messaged Percy to ask how he was doing, apologizing for the fact that he was too busy trying to figure out how to defeat Polybotes to come and talk in person.

Percy sighed and plopped down onto his bunk, running his fingers through his hair and sighing. Before, he'd never been able to be alone with his thoughts without thinking of his time with Polybotes, and even though that was still the case, his hands didn't tremble and he didn't start hyperventilating. He found that he was… _healing._ It was a wonderful thing to feel, after so many months of his life being consumed by fear.

"Mind if I join you in your little brooding session?" Percy was nearly scared out of his skin as Annabeth poked her head around the door, grinning broadly as her grey eyes twinkled. She was beautiful, her skin tanned from the summer months and her curly blonde hair done up in a messy ponytail, and she swaggered over to plop down on the bed next to Percy, leaning against him. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Percy didn't reply, and Annabeth's easygoing expression turned solemn. She didn't speak, but rather twined her fingers through Percy's and gave a reassuring squeeze. They talked for a while, and then Annabeth said something funny that lifted the son of Poseidon's spirits considerably. Percy smiled softly and kissed her cheek, making her blush, and suddenly the look she was giving Percy turned sultry as she worried her lower lip in between her teeth. She leaned in and caught Percy's lips in a kiss, and any thoughts of Polybotes spiraled down the drain as the demigod's brain power completely flat-lined, leaving him unable to think of anything else but Annabeth's mouth on his. He reached his hand up to cup her cheek, and she scooted closer so that her front was pressed against Percy's side, their legs tangling together.

They would've gone further, but suddenly a deafening _boom_ ripped through the silence, and the windows rattled a bit at the sound.

"What was that?" Annabeth hissed. Percy shrugged helplessly, leaving them unable to do anything but go and find out. The two slipped out of the Poseidon cabin, ignoring the accusatory glances from the other campers, and jogged over towards where other demigods were beginning to congregate.

"What the hell is going on?!" Percy demanded to no one in particular as he shouldered his way through the anxious demigods that were clustering together, the babble of many voices making it difficult to concentrate on much of anything. "What was that sound?!"

"I don't know," Chiron replied as he trotted over, his tail lashing back and forth as he worried at the strap on his quiver. His eyes scanned the horizon, where the ocean glittered like thousands of diamonds in the sunlight. "It's unlike anything I've ever witnessed before."

"It's a titan!" one girl from the Aphrodite cabin cried as she clutched onto her friend's arm, tears streaming down her cheeks, "It's going to kill us all!"

"Festus might just be rowdy," supplied a Hecate camper hesitantly, wringing her hands together. "He gets like that sometimes when Calypso and Leo haven't been paying attention to him."

"But what if Calypso and Leo are dead? What if there was an explosion in Bunker Nine and they didn't make it out?" wailed a son of Hephaestus.

"We're right here! We're fine!" Calypso called as she and Leo jogged towards them, the two of them most likely having been at the forge, judging from all of the soot on Leo's overalls. The talking somehow became louder, and it grew hard for Percy to even hear himself think over the cacophony. He decided that he'd had enough.

"Everyone shut up and listen to Chiron!" the son of Poseidon bellowed, sounding nothing like the meek and abused victim he'd been but a few weeks prior. The entire group fell silent as they responded to the authority in Percy's voice, though their anxiety was almost tangible as it permeated the air, the campfire having turned a nervous purple color. Chiron dipped his head in acknowledgement towards Percy, and unslung his bow from his shoulder as he regarded the assembled group of campers.

"We are unsure what may have caused this, and I'm trying to get a hold of Dionysus right now to see if he has any ideas on what could be happening, but the Iris cabin has concluded that there is a force that is preventing us from contacting anyone via Iris message," the centaur explained, his hooves pawing at the ground in his concern. He raised his hand for silence as a chorus of worried murmurs broke out amongst the campers. "I can assure you that, if it is a monster, our barriers will hold."

"How are you so confident?" challenged an Apollo camper from the back. "Powerful things don't seem to be affected by the barrier at all. Remember Gaea and what happened to Percy?" The son of Poseidon withered under the scrutiny a bit as all eyes turned to him, and Annabeth put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, though her eyes sparkled with suppressed worry. "How can we be positive that the Golden Fleece will protect us?"

"We can't be sure," Chiron bit through clenched teeth, white-knuckling the grip on his bow. "In the meantime, it would be best if we, instead of worrying, got into our battle positions." No one moved, and Chiron rolled his eyes, rubbing the side of his face. "Do I have to spell it out for you? Get to your battle stations! Go on!" Immediately the camp was bustling with activity as campers nearly trampled each other to get to the armory and the Ares cabin, where sons and daughters of the war god were already bringing out the heavy artillery and the barbed wire. The younger campers were herded into the infirmary, where the Apollo campers were preparing for the worst, and the campfire blazed a jittery green. Percy and Annabeth followed the crowd of demigods to the shed that was the armory, and luckily they'd expanded it considerably since Percy's first year; there was plenty of armor to go around, and those who didn't have weapons of their own borrowed from the vast arsenal.

Percy hadn't remembered uncapping Riptide, but the leaf-shaped blade was gleaming in his hand, and he loved the comforting weight of it in his palm. He'd thought he'd lost it at Polybotes's and had been heartbroken, however when the jeans that Percy had been wearing proved to be inaccessible, the pen had chosen to reappear in the pocket of another set of pants. Needless to say, he'd been beyond grateful that he hadn't lost his precious sword.

"You look a little sick, Perce. You okay?" Jason inquired, coming up next to him with Piper, Leo, Calypso, and Nico on his heels. If only Reyna, Hazel, and Frank weren't at Camp Jupiter and Will wasn't preoccupied with the infirmary; then the entire gang would be back together.

"I-I'm fine," Percy murmured, sounding most certainly not fine. He tried to ignore Annabeth's incredibly concerned expression out of the corner of his eye, instead opting to fiddle with the straps on his Celestial Bronze breastplate.

"What do you guys think is happening?" Nico questioned, running his fingers along the flat of his Stygian Iron blade.

"No clue, but it can't be anything good," Piper stated firmly, twirling Katropis in her fingers. It was a seemingly nonchalant action, but from the way the daughter of Aphrodite's fingers trembled and her eyes shone with her unease, it was clearly a nervous tick.

"I could get Festus, but he's back in Bunker Nine," Leo suggested, his eyes alight with hope and anticipation, "Perhaps I could scout out the area a little on his back, make sure it's not a major issue." The son of Hephaestus was desperately attempting to keep his tone lighthearted, as if it was obviously nothing to worry about, but he was chewing relentlessly on his bottom lip and wouldn't stop picking at his tool belt.

"That's a terrible idea," Jason deadpanned, pushing his glasses farther up on his nose. "You could get shot out of the sky and we'd have no way to rescue you."

Leo was just about to open his mouth to argue when Chiron's voice rang out to them, "Just because you're demigods of the Great Prophecy doesn't mean you can be slackers!"

"Good luck, guys," Jason said hurriedly, and with that the son of Zeus was jogging off to his battle station, and everyone bid each other farewell before following Jason's lead. Percy and Annabeth were stationed together, since they wouldn't have it any other way, and the position just so happened to be by the beach so that Percy could use his powers more easily.

It was a nice spot, and Percy took a seat on one of the many large rocks that were strewn about before the terrain bled into sand. The sound of the ocean waves lapping at the shore and the tang of salt and brine on the breeze soothed his fraying nerves, and his allowed his eyes to slip closed as he took a deep breath of the fresh ocean air. It felt like home here, and even though he'd been too scared to even go near the water up until a few weeks ago, he was finally at ease. The leaves in the trees rustled and the branches swayed hypnotically, trapped in a dance to music that only they could hear.

"You lied to Jason," Annabeth murmured as she took a seat next to Percy on the rock, her words breaking the serene silence that had settled over everything. "When you said that you're fine. You're not."

There was a long pause as Percy took incredibly interest in his shoes, and Annabeth seemed more than willing to wait for an answer, her expectant look out of the corner of Percy's vision making sweat bead on his forehead.

After a while, Percy admitted, "You're right, I'm not fine."

"Then maybe you should sit this one out," Annabeth advised, "You're still healing, you know." Her words held no scorn, unlike what others may believe; she wasn't trying to baby Percy and keep him sheltered from the world after what had happened, she was simply concerned for him as his first true battle rolled around. Percy hadn't seen a monster since his time with Polybotes, and he didn't know whether the sight of one of Tartarus's big baddies would trigger a panic attack or not; he hadn't been able to bring himself to go into the woods yet, and everyone had been more than willing to let the son of Poseidon ease himself into it.

"Do you think I could really sit this one out?" Percy scoffed, trying not to sound too incredulous and failing. "I'm not an invalid; I can fight now. I'm functioning. Just because I went through a rough patch doesn't mean I can't do whatever it takes to defend this camp."

"That's not what I'm saying," Annabeth retorted, sighing. "I'm saying that you shouldn't push yourself too much. I wanted your first encounter with a monster to be with one from the woods. At least with monsters from the woods you don't have to really worry about it killing you; those monsters are easily defeated if you're with a group that has your back. But if your first encounter with a monster is with an out of control, dangerous creature sent by Polybotes or Oceanus to possibly capture you, then I'm afraid it might damage your head a little."

"It'll be fine," Percy insisted, though he sounded as if he was trying to convince himself. "I'll be fine. It's probably nothing big, like Leo said."

"We'll see," was all Annabeth answered.

They waited, keeping watch of the surrounding area as sentries. Percy no longer was restless when it came to sitting around, and he felt content to just watch the ocean. Gulls called overhead, and grasses swayed lazily in the breeze, the sound of the waves crashing comforting to say the least. Occasionally he would steal glances at Annabeth when he thought the daughter of Athena wasn't looking, though he was caught staring more times than not. After a while, though, Percy's mind realized that there was nothing of interest to pay attention to, and Percy's mind began to wander to darker places as he failed to become occupied with something.

 _The whip tearing his back to ribbons._

 _Electrical charges making him jerk and judder._

 _A club bludgeoning his body over and over._

"Percy, you're as pale as a ghost. Whatever you're starting to think about, stop thinking it." Annabeth's words were what kept Percy from plunging any deeper into his reveries, and he concentrated on the comforting hand on his arm rather than the phantom pains that wracked him like the echoes of something long past. "Maybe we should get back to the cabins. We've been waiting for a while. It's probably nothing." Percy nodded, swallowing thickly, and the two were just about to head back when suddenly the water, which had been a crisp navy before, began to churn and become acid green.

Percy let out a shuddering exhale as a horrifyingly familiar head rose from the water-turned-poison, then a torso clad in armor, and then a pair of scaly, reptilian legs. Percy felt himself shutting down as Polybotes rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, grinning like the cat that got the canary. Mutedly, he could hear the faint shouts of campers in the distance as they saw Polybotes's head over the trees, as well as Annabeth's desperate cries as she shook Percy's shoulder, begging the son of Poseidon to respond, but he was frozen, his eyes trained on the exact same beast he'd hoped he'd never see again.

"Oh my god, Percy, come on we have to go!" Annabeth ordered, but Percy could only watch as Polybotes opened one of his hands and out of it fell a small, limp figure. The demigod promptly threw up as Kathy's body connected with the sand, her neck bent at an odd angle and her throat slit. The corpse dissolved into water soon after it touched the ground, soaking into the sand and disappearing. There wasn't even anything to bury. Annabeth patted Percy's back, whispering consoling words as his sides heaved and his throat burned from the acid as he chucked his guts onto the ground. The daughter of Athena tried to bring him into the cover of the trees; Polybotes had yet to spot them, and the tree line was right there. They could very easily hide, but Percy's chest felt like stone, weighing him down and gluing his feet to the sand. Kathy hadn't deserved it. She hadn't done anything wrong, not that Percy knew of. She'd just been one of the unlucky ones.

"Percy, please," Annabeth whispered as Polybotes took a single, huge step out of the surf and onto the beach, his glowing eyes searching and lighting up as they fell on what must've been Camp Half-Blood's armies charging towards him. Those two words were what ripped Percy from his stupor, and he cast one last glance over his shoulder at the spot where Kathy's body had once been, before saying:

"Annabeth, you can't let him take me." He clutched Annabeth's shoulders tightly. "Please don't let them take me."

"I won't Percy, I won't-" The son of Poseidon cut her off before she could say any more.

"I know you won't, but if something happens I need…" his voice broke, and he rubbed at his eyes. "I can't go back there. I don't want to become a broken shell again. A curled up piece of trash just lying around and praying for death."

"What are you saying?" Annabeth demanded, but the look of dread on her face suggested that she knew where this was going. There was a lengthy pause where only the sound of Polybotes shuffling this way and that in the sand could be heard.

"If it comes down to it, I need you to kill me," Percy finally said, and Annabeth's hand clamped over her mouth, though not before she let out a bitter, disbelieving laugh. "I know it sounds cheesy and cliché. It is. Totally. But I can't go back to Polybotes and be…be tortured slowly until my mind shatters. I can't go through that again, and I won't."

"You can't ask me to do that," Annabeth hissed, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You can't just ask me to kill you."

Percy found his expression growing hard. "Fine. If you won't do it, I will."

Before the daughter of Athena could respond, Percy was darting off into the woods, and she had no choice but to follow, hot on his heels.

They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, chopping and hacking at any foliage in their way as they dashed towards the campers. They were all clustered together, their eyes widening, and Percy realized, with shock, that they'd never seen a giant before. The people on the beach who hadn't already been a part of the Seven had only been able to see Polybotes from a distance, and even then the giant hadn't scaled up to his full height. Not counting Gaea, the giants had never been to Camp Half-Blood, much less attacked it, and now these poor demigods were being faced with one of their biggest challenges yet.

"Is that who I think it is?" Leo squeaked as he regarded the thin slice of Polybotes's forehead that could be seen over the trees. He went as white as a sheet as Percy and Annabeth nodded in unison, and his hair began to smoke in his nervousness. Calypso seemed stoic, but her eyes betrayed her anxiety. After Leo had rescued her from Ogygia, she had become mortal in a sense; she'd lost all of her powers upon leaving the island, however, being the daughter of Atlas, she'd still been able to get through Camp Half-Blood's borders.

"Guys, we need a god if we're going to defeat this guy," Nico stated, fiddling with his weapon. "And right now Mr. D is MIA, so things aren't looking too good."

"Well, if Percy's dad was so occupied with trying to defeat Polybotes, then he'd probably know if he was near the camp, right?" Piper asked hopefully, fiddling with her braid. "I don't see Aristotle anywhere. Maybe he's going to get Poseidon and he'll come with his sea army."

"I can only hope so," Annabeth replied grimly.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of Polybotes's heavy footsteps approaching, and the demigods scattered like ants, screaming and crying in their terror, despite Chiron's shouted orders to stick together. Polybotes shoved the trees out of the way, his eyes alight with a murderous gleam and basilisks slipping free of his dreadlocks, the poisonous snake creatures immediately slithering after the stampeding and terrified demigods.

"Fire!" cried Nyssa, and Polybotes let out a shocked grunt as a ball of fire connected with his head. The giant staggered back, clutching his forehead and scowling, but other than that he wasn't the least bit fazed.

"Now, now, there's no need for that!" Polybotes bellowed, breaking through the trees and taking out the catapults with a single swipe of his hand. The demigods shrieked and dove to the side as the explosives were set off, blowing the catapults to splinters that sailed through the air and became imbedded into anyone unfortunate enough to be close by. Percy felt completely useless; he couldn't use his powers since Polybotes was the anti-Poseidon and would turn any wave that Percy hurled at him into poison, and Percy was too frozen by fear to actually fight and confront him.

It dissolved into chaos after that. Arrows shot from the bows of Apollo campers stationed on the rock climbing wall rained down upon Polybotes, burrowing into his arms and head. Some of them detonated or caught aflame, charring or blowing off chunks of skin, but even so, they were still mere pinpricks to him. Eventually, the arrows fell uselessly to the ground as the giant's skin closed up, and Percy's stomach sank as the true weight of the situation hit him like a freight train; they were helpless without the aid of a god, and if his dad or someone else didn't arrive in time, both he and everyone else were all as good as dead. The pandemonium continued on as the braver of the demigods darted this way and that around the giant's feet, ripping up the skin under his scales with their weapons and generally being an all-around inconvenience. Mrs. O'Leary charged into battle, and though Tyson was absent, too busy tending to his duties as the general of Poseidon's Cyclops armies, the hellhound was plenty fine by herself as she tore apart basilisks with ease, aided by skeletal specters that Nico commanded from a distance.

Jason was flying around Polybotes's head, summoning lightning whenever his strength recharged in order to distract the giant from the demigods at his feet. Piper refrained from calling out orders in charmspeak, in case Polybotes wasn't the only one affected by the words; if kids also followed Piper's orders as well as the giant, they could become seriously endangered. The wreckage from the catapults blazed, and Percy could feel the heat from it all the way from his spot crouched in the trees with Annabeth, to the point where he was pretty sure his eyebrows had singed off. He felt like a coward, but he couldn't bring himself to step out in the open as his breath sawed in and out of his lungs. He feared he'd start to hyperventilate, but Annabeth was still there with him, keeping him calm.

"You should really be out there with them," he murmured . "Don't bother with me, I'll be okay." Annabeth didn't seem too convinced, but still she kissed him goodbye and plunged into the heat of battle with her drakon tooth sword drawn, leaving Percy alone with the scenes of torture flickering on the insides of his eyelids, plaguing him whenever he dared to close his eyes.

He hated standing aside and just watching the slaughter, though thankfully most, if not all, of the casualties were basilisks. Percy's hands shook uncontrollably as he crouched in the bushes, and he found himself crying silently as he stared at Polybotes's face, contorted in rage and sick delight as he ripped trees from their roots and hurled them at Percy's friends. He rocked back and forth, his breathing ragged as he tucked his head in between his knees and tried to calm down, but to no avail.

"STOP!" Percy was pretty sure that his blood turned to ice in his veins as Polybotes raised his voice, and the only thing he could think about was the agony he would feel after the giant would raise his voice. "I WISH TO BARGAIN WITH YOU DEMIGODS, SO IF WE COULD SIT AND TALK LIKE CIVILIZED CREATURES, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL." The fighting ceased. Even the basilisks broke away from their battles with demigods and slithered over to Polybotes, curling languidly by his gigantic feet.

"No, don't listen to him," Percy meant to yell, but his voice came out as a nearly inaudible rasp. He was on his knees and felt incredibly woozy, as if he were going to keel over and collapse onto his side, and he was having trouble keeping his vision from blurring. The giant knelt down, crushing a few basilisks in the process, and his eyes raked over the group of assembled demigods, his austereness melting into an unnerving sneer. A ways from the group, Jason touched down, his sword drawn and his movements wary.

"What do you want, Polybotes?" Chiron demanded, trotting over with ease despite the fact that a huge burn from basilisk acid marred his flank, looking incredibly painful even from a distance.

"I want to barter with you and your pathetic campers, old horse," the giant requested politely, but his voice was sickly sweet.

"We don't barter with the likes of you," Chiron responded firmly, holding his bow in a white-knuckled grip, and Percy's nerves eased at the centaur's words, though his heart sank right after was Polybotes continued:

"Don't act so high and mighty, Chiron. I believe we can make a deal of sorts if we can get past our differences," Polybotes chided, and Percy shivered at the mockery in his tone, a mockery he'd heard a thousand times as he was taunted and beaten. "I'm just going to be straight with you here. You have something of mine, and I want it back. If you give it to me, then I'll be on my merry way and will never bother a single demigod every again. I swear it on the River Styx." Thunder rumbled overhead, making the crowd of demigods shift uneasily, and Percy sat a little straighter; if he claimed that he wasn't interested he'd be lying big time.

"We have something of yours…?" For the first time, Chiron sounded hesitant.

"Indeed you do," Polybotes confirmed. "And that something is Perseus Jackson." Everyone fell silent, and Percy was pretty sure he was going to pass out. "What? It's not like the deal is outlandish."

"How is that not outlandish?!" Annabeth demanded, and Polybotes's face took on an expression of clear amusement.

"Where is the boy now? I can only assume he's hiding under a rock somewhere," Polybotes pointed out, and even though the giant wasn't wrong in the least, the comment still made Percy's blood boil, though not for one moment did he consider giving in and revealing himself. The moment Polybotes's gaze fell on him would be the moment that Percy would break down and weep; he didn't think he could be under that horrible gaze again without losing control of himself at the influx of horrible memories. "The boy's useless. I bet he hasn't even encountered a monster yet, has he? Too busy hiding under the bed to get his act together."

"That boy went through some serious trauma at your hand, Polybotes," Chiron growled, his tail lashing back and forth. "He is, was, healing, but now you've come along and soiled it. He has every right to be hiding right now."

"Well that's a shame," Polybotes remarked, mock pouting. "If you give him over, you'll be saving the lives of many, many demigods for centuries to come. I won't bother them. I won't even look in their direction. I swore it before, do you really think I'd lie now?" Murmurs began to ripple through the crowd, and Percy knew that they were hesitant to turn down this offer. Even he, a person who'd been tortured mercilessly by Polybotes, saw the sense in making the deal. What's one stupid and broken kid in the grand scheme of things? His fatal flaw was getting the best of him, but he knew that his suicidal loyalty was a gift in this situation. If he just walked out and gave himself up, Annabeth and Leo and Calypso and Jason and Piper and Nico and Will and Hazel and Frank and Reyna and everyone else would be safe from Polybotes. He could always end it himself before he and Polybotes arrived back at the island.

No one would have to suffer the same fate as Percy did; it would be one sacrifice and then it would be over. Giving himself over meant that every demigod would be safe from the giant, and the son of Poseidon found himself rising to his feet, feeling numb all over as his heart turned to stone and his hands balled into fists at his sides. If worse came to worst, he would drive the sword through his chest.

Clutching Riptide like a lifeline, he slowly emerged from hiding and shuffled out of the tree line, and he hoped that Polybotes was too large to see just how badly he was trembling. Everyone turned and parted as he approached, whispering amongst themselves, but Percy just looked straight ahead and kept walking, even as he saw Chiron grimacing and Annabeth crying silently out of the corner of his eye. This was the right thing to do. It would keep everyone safe. Polybotes's smile was absolutely wicked, and Percy felt as if he would shake right out of his skin as he looked the giant square in the eye.

"Swear it again," he demanded, trying to sound strong, but his voice quivered slightly. "Swear that you will never hurt or bring harm to a single demigod for as long as you walk this earth. You'll have me and that should be good enough for you."

"Percy, no!" Annabeth cried, and she had to be restrained by several demigods as she desperately tried to shove her way over to her boyfriend. He hoped he would be able to kiss her goodbye and tell her he loved her one last time; he wasn't going back with Polybotes, not as long as he was sane, and he prepared himself to die. He looked down at Riptide, recalling the line of the first Great Prophecy he'd encountered:

 _A hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap…_

Maybe it didn't just apply to Luke and Backbiter. Every single hero who'd wielded Riptide had died tragically or suffered a terrible fate. What made Percy any different? _I'm sorry,_ he told it. _I'm so sorry._

"Percy!" Annabeth cried again, and the son of Poseidon couldn't look at her, in case he chicken out of his decision. He told himself that there was no other way. He told himself that this would be the best fate.

No other campers objected despite the fact that they all wore matching expressions of guilt and sorrow. They didn't want to do this. None of them wanted to. But if it meant saving many lives for years to come, it would all be worth it. The rest of the Seven who were present were weeping, and Nico clutched Will's shirt and buried his face into the blond's shoulder.

Polybotes's smile broadened. "I swear on the River Styx that I will never hurt or bring harm to a single demigod for as long as I walk this earth, aside from you, of course," Polybotes vowed, and once more, thunder rumbled.

"Then I'm all yours," Percy murmured, though his eyes were glassy.

"You see, that's the issue," Polybotes began slowly, and Percy managed to become even more rigid. Would his servitude start now? Would he have to kneel and be humiliated in front of all these campers, ordered to do tricks like a dog? Polybotes didn't seem to have that in mind, though. "I'm not the one who's going to be keeping you this time."

"W-w-what do you mean?" Percy stammered, and he tried to tune out the sound of Annabeth sobbing behind him.

"I mean that there's someone else who should be arriving to come pick you up," Polybotes scoffed, and his eyes sparkled with glee, not unlike a hunter who'd stumbled upon a bear caught in a trap. "He should be arriving any minute."

As if on cue, a huge black raven flew over the trees, cackling. It circled overhead for a few laps before descending with an easy grace onto a nearby rock.

"Aristotle!" Jason exclaimed, his eyes alight with hope. "Did you get Poseidon?"

"Silence, you foolish boy," Aristotle growled, only it wasn't the rough, croaking voice of the venerable bird that came out of the raven's mouth. It was the Archbishop's voice. "I am in an incredibly bad mood since the death of one of my servants, and wish to have a replacement as soon as possible. I assume Percy is ready?"

"As he'll ever be," the giant chuckled, nudging Percy forwards with a huge hand when the demigod started to back up.

"Aristotle, what's going on?" Piper demanded, packing as much charmspeak into her voice as possible, but the bird only laughed darkly.

"There was never an Aristotle. Percy's pathetic father sent the real Aristotle to watch over you, but sadly he didn't make the trip. I decided I would be a fit replacement. It was me. It was _always_ me."

"And who are you?" Chiron demanded, an arrow cocked in his bow and aimed right at the bird.

"I think it would be best if I just showed you." Between one blink and the next, the comforting bird was gone, replaced by an all too familiar figure.

The Archbishop regarded Percy as if the demigod was a piece of dog shit that had found its way onto the bottom of his new shoes, but his eyes betrayed just how excited he was. "It seems you and Polybotes have come to an agreement, and I'd prefer it if we were on our way as soon as possible. Unlike Polybotes, I have yet to try out this new chew toy." Percy hesitated, clearly reluctant. He hadn't agreed to this; this horrible creature was ten times worse than Polybotes, and on top of that, he was unfamiliar. Percy knew Polybotes; his likes and dislikes, what made him proud and what made him furious, and it had taken a long time for him to learn. During those times of not knowing about the giant, Percy had been in constant agony. He hadn't known what Polybotes expected of him or what the demigod should avoid doing to keep from getting beaten, and he didn't want to go through something like that again. Only, it seemed like it was going to be inevitable. He knew it was time.

And then Riptide abruptly flew out of his hand and skidded to a stop by Polybotes, who picked it up and examined it between his gigantic fingers. Percy's heart began to thunder in his chest as he turned to the Archbishop, who gave the son of Poseidon a pitying look. "Don't think I didn't see the look in your eyes, sea brat. We can't have you killing yourself, now can we? That would ruin all the fun."

"Shut the fuck up!" Percy yelled, clenching his hands into trembling fists. "Just shut up!"

"Ooh, he's rowdy. I'll have to train it out of him, then," the Archbishop snarled. Percy turned to glance at Annabeth, intending it just to be for a moment, and found her with Chiron's bow in her hands, an arrow aimed straight at Percy's heart. He could see the tears leaking from her eyes and the way the bow shook as she tried to keep her trembling to a minimum. The only thing he could do was give her a soft nod.

There was nothing to it, then.

Percy heard it, the small whisper of an arrow propelled forwards by a bowstring, on top of the sound of a conch horn being blown and the Cyclops battle cry, "PEANUT BUTTER!" before everything went dark.

Before he completely faded away, his last thought was _I love you, Wise Girl._ And then he was gone.

-Ω-

"And that, Abby, is why Daddy can't run marathons anymore," Percy announced to his teenaged daughter, who was too preoccupied with her second box of tissues to pay much attention.

"You never ran marathons in the first place," Annabeth scoffed, her hand running over his chest to rest on the scar right next to his heart. Had the arrow landed any closer, Percy would've been dead. "And many parts of that story were over exaggerated, so there's not much to worry about." Her tone turned serious as her sharp eyes locked with her daughter's red-rimmed ones. "But know that your father has been through a lot. This isn't just why he can't run marathons. It's why he has trouble looking people in the eye and sometimes gets scared when it's cloudy at the beach. Not a word of this should be spoken to your friends, do you hear?"

"I promise," Abby sniffled, miming zipping her lips closed. "Nobody will know but me." She sat on the couch for a few more minutes, wiping at her eyes, and Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look.

"C'mere," the son of Poseidon grunted, holding out his arms, which his daughter eagerly fell into.

And in that moment, everything was perfect.

 **END**

 **-Ω-**

 **(A/N) And there you have it! Sorry about the long update, but it took a long time to write and perfect this. I hope you all enjoyed Save Me and that you leave a review for your final thoughts.**

 **Disclaimer: THE CHARACTERS ARE RICKS, THE PLOT BELONGS TO THE WONDERFUL CHRISTMASCOOKIE26**


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